Ill 




He Life 




1: .' ■ '. :u;.i:;i 





5e¥. Walter Ellis Footers 



R.Ji. White 




3lA±lA 



Book 



PRESENTED BY 



THE LIFE 

OF 

Rev. Walter Ellis Powers 



by 



A. N. WHITE . 

PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES 
OF THE KENTUCKY BAPTIST 
HISTORICAL SOCIETY. .... 




BAPTIST BOOK CONCERN 

LOUISVILLE, KY. /^/ 7 






(OwC^vvu 



Gift 
Author 
SEP W 18JS 






INDE X. 

I. Action and Reaction. . , 9 

II. His Forebears 15 

III. Early Environments 23 

IV. Born Again 29 

V. Marriage 41 

VI. The Divine Leadings 51 

VII. His Ordination 63 

VIII. He Becomes a Missionary 77 

IX. Dan Cupid Takes a Hand 91 

X. Pastor Evangelist 107 

XI. True Yokefellows . 127 

XII. Long Pastorates 149 

XIII. The Nestor of Moderators 161 

XIV. He Fell on Sleep 173 

XV. Interesting Episodes 183 

Addenda 203 



FOREWORD. 



It is unnecessary to say that this book is not a 
worthy appreciation of its subject: to do so, 
would be only anticipating the verdict of every 
intelligent reader that knew and loved this 
wonderful man who lived so nobly and wrought 
so effectively for God and man. To set forth, 
with accurate words and in attractive phrase, 
his worth and service, is beyond the power of 
my pen. However, this little book is my best 
effort to describe his character and portray his 
works and. show him living and toiling as his 
brethren saw him. 

I gratefully acknowledge the kindness of 
many of his friends, both lajnnen and pastors, 
who have assisted much in sending me reminis- 
cences and appreciations of his worth. 

Especially do I acknowledge my debt to Mrs. 
Burrilla B. Spencer — since deceased — widow of 
the late Dr. J. H. Spencer, for the privilege of 
reading the autobiography of her distinguished 
husband — still in manuscript and now deposited 
in the archives of the Kentucky Baptist Histor- 
ical Society at the Southern Baptist Theological 
Seminary in Louisville. From this manuscript, 
I gathered many items of great importance 
v 



which could not have been found anywhere else. 
Dr. Spencer said on many occasions that he 
could not very well write an account of his own 
life and work without saying a great deal about 
Walter E. Powers, his yokefellow for thirty 
years in the ministry. I have also made copious 
use of biographical sketches: in Dr. Spencer's 
History of Kentucky Baptists, but in almost 
every case they have been supplemented by con- 
versations with Mr. Powers, during the three 
years he lived after I was requested to begin to 
collect material and prepare to write his biog- 
raphy. 

It is not inappropriate to record the fact that 
this work was projected at the request of four 
noble laymen who came under the influence of 
Mr. Powers in their young manhood and were so 
gripped by him in the formative period of their 
characters, that they have never ceased to love 
and admire him for what he had been to them. 
All these brethren except one reside in Lexing- 
ton. Their names are as follows: Sam B. 
Eoyster, J. N. Merchant, Louis M. Moore, and 
J. Harlan Callis. 

And lastly, this book could not have been 
written without the memoranda of the man 
whose life and work are herein set forth. He 
furnished copious notes of his youth, young 
manhood, his long service in the ministry and 
his intimate relations with many laymen and 
vi 



ministers in Kentucky who have ceased from 
their labors and gone to their reward on high. 

Thomas Carlyle says that the history of the 
w T orld is the biography of great men and that 
admiration for a great personality is the most 
vitalizing influence in the life of a man. Man- 
liness, courageousness, loyalty to convictions, 
devotion to duty, and the power of achievement, 
are characteristics that enter into the make-up 
of a great man, and measured by these, Walter 
E. Powers deserves to have his name writ large in 
the history of Kentucky Baptists. His ministry 
was manly and courageous, and this little book 
is sent forth in the hope that it may inspire his 
brethren in the pastorate with the spirit of his 
unremitting devotion to duty, so free from taint 
of self and characterized by an unswerving loy- 
alty to the Master, that made him so great a 
power for good in the world, also with the hope 
that it may perhaps be used of God to determine 
some young man, who has not yet made choice 
of his career, to give his life to the work of 
preaching the Word. 



VII 



1. 

ACTION AND REACTION. 

If we knew all the influences that go into the 
making of any character, if we were able to 
compare them in detail and tabulate accurately 
all the factors which have acted on any man in 
his childhood and upbringing to manhood, we 
should be amply furnished with data for a sat- 
isfactory biography. Goethe says: "Every- 
thing that happens to us leaves some trace be- 
hind; everything contributes imperceptibly to 
make us what we are.'' Tennyson makes 
Ulysses, the hero of the Trojan war. express the 
same idea : "I am a part of all that I have 
met''; and Byron says: "I live not in myself, 
but I become a part of that around me." 

It is no marvel, then, that the biographer 
wants to know all about the parents and grand- 
parents of his hero, or even his more remote 
ancestors, so that their characteristics can be 
brought prominently into view. It is especially 
desirable that he bring into view an accurate 
photograph of the father and mother — their ap- 
pearance and physique, their character, their 
disposition and their mental qualities should be 
9 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

delineated : only in this way can the biographer 
determine how much of his father and mother, 
respectively, have been transmitted to their off- 
spring. It goes without saying that in this 
method of presenting a sketch of the life and 
work of any man we find at the very outset that 
we are not dealing with an independent unit, 
but with a survival and re-appearance of many 
features of character and conduct that seemed 
to be buried in the oblivion of the past. 

Again, it is important for the biographer to 
have knowledge of the more external influences 
— schools and school teachers, neighbors, home, 
pecuniary circumstances, the natural scenery of 
his environment, and by no means the least in 
the present case, the religious and the political 
atmosphere of the time. All these hold a funda- 
mental place in moulding the character of the 
individual and making him what he is, and thus 
in many subtle ways they determine the course 
of the future life. 

Scientists tell us that the two master influ- 
ences in the world are heredity and environ- 
ment. These two influences make men what 
they are, and they unceasingly play upon all 
men's lives from childhood to old age. But 
while these influences are moulding a man 's 
character and shaping his conduct, it is in his 
"■10 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

power to grasp the opportunity to effect "a 
more perfect adjustment to higher and better 
conditions, to balance some inward evil with 
some power or influence acting from without, in 
a word to make his environment at the same 
time it is making him. Now, what heredity has 
to do for a man is determined outside himself. 
No man can select his own parents. But every 
man, to some extent, can choose, or at least 
modify, his environment. His relation to it, 
however largely determined by heredity in the 
beginning, is always open to alteration. And so 
great is man's control over environment that he 
can so direct it as either to undo, modify, per- 
petuate or intensify earlier hereditary influences 
within certain limits. 

The working of the foregoing influences is 
well understood by men in the ordinary affairs 
of life who have the habit of noting what is 
going on around them and are possessed by the 
faculty of tracing cause and effect. But for 
the sake of clarity a concrete example is offered 
which strikingly illustrates the claim that it is 
in a man's power to change his environment and 
thus appreciably modify the influences of 
heredity. In what may be called a typical 
community in Kentucky, sixty years ago, there 
were present the school-house, the post office, 
11 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

the blacksmith shop, the churches, and the 
saloons. Then, as now, the saloons and churenes, 
severally and collectively, stood as far apart as 
it is possible to conceive; then, as now, the 
churches stood for the conservation of all that 
is good in the community, the purification of 
society and the ennobling of manhood and 
womanhood; but then, as now, the presence of 
the saloon made for the depreciation of prop- 
erty, the lowering of the standard of morals and 
the debauching of manhood and womanhood; in 
short, from any point of view, the principles for 
which tire saloons have always stood are essen- 
tially irreconcilable with the principles for 
which the churches 'have stood. It is no marvel, 
therefore, that the presence of the saloon in the 
community was a disturbing factor in the way 
of the churches' accomplishing their beneficent 
ends. And so it came about that at almost 
every business meeting of one church in a cer- 
tain community, some member of the church 
was under discipline for drunkenness. It was 
also noted that those who were called before the 
church on account of this breach of Christian 
conduct said they got the intoxicants from a 
saloon, owned and operated by one of the mem- 
bers of the church. The cases of discipline were 
so many and came up with such frequency that 
12 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

one member of the church, after close observa- 
tion, mature consideration and fervent prayer 
over the condition of things in the congregation, 
gave notice that at the next monthly business 
meeting in the church, he would offer a resolu- 
tion requiring the saloon-keeper to give up his 
iniquitous business on pain of being dis-fellow- 
shipped by the church. 

At the time to which reference is made, there 
was no precedent to justify such a proceeding, 
and by many good men in the church and up- 
right citizens outside, the object of the resolu- 
tion was regarded as an unwarranted interfer- 
ence with a man's personal liberty. However, 
at the appointed time, the resolution was offered 
and after two hearings when the question was 
discussed pro and con at gre^t length, the 
church, almost unanimously, adopted the reso- 
lution, and the fellowship of the church was 
withdrawn from the man on account of his con- 
tumacy; But the action of the church, and the 
discussion of the principles involved, changed 
the moral atmosphere of the community so that 
it was a better place for man to live in and 
bring up their children to manhood and woman- 
hood. The environment was changed because 
one man had the alertness of mind to see and 
the courage of heart to act. 
13 



II. 

HIS FOREBEARS. 

Walter Ellis Powers was born in Shelby 
County, Kentucky, June the 26, 1824. His 
paternal grandfather was one of the pioneers of 
Kentucky and came into the western wilderness 
when it was still a part of the domain of Vir- 
ginia, and then known as Fineastle County. 
Afterwards, by an act of the Virginia legisla- 
ture, it was called Kentucky County. Clement 
Powers, the father of Walter, was born before 
Kentucky was admitted into the Union in 1792 ; 
thus it came about that he could claim to have 
been a resident of both Virginia, and Kentucky 
without changing his place of residence. To 
Clement Powers and his wife were born eight 
children, three sons and five daughters, all of 
which, except one daughter, grew up to man- 
hood and womanhood. Our hero was the fourth 
child in the sequence of births. Walter's 
mother, whose maiden name was Nancy Ellis, 
was born during the last years of the eighteenth 
century, in Culpepper County, Virginia, a sec- 
tion of the Old Dominion that is hallowed in 
the mind and heart of every Baptist who takes 
any interest in the sufferings and achievements 
15 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

of our Baptist fore-fathers. In this county, as 
well as in other parts of Virginia, during Colo- 
nial days, persecution raged against the Baptists 
in every conceivable form, and cruelty seemed 
to have taxed its ingenuity to invent new modes 
of punishment and annoyance. Concerning 
those vexatious days, Dr. Armitage says: 
' ' There were some noted cases of holy triumph, 
such as in the prison at Culpepper, whence Ire- 
land, much after the order of Bunj^an, who was 
had home to prison in the county jail of Bedford. 
One could hardly believe the story of the lengths 
to which these persecutions were carried, were 
they not well accredited historical facts. Pow- 
der was cast under the floor to blow up the jail 
in which Mr. Ireland was incarcerated, brim- 
stone was burnt to suffocate him, and the at- 
tempt was made to administer poison to end his 
life. However, these diabolical schemes were 
frustrated, and after much suffering, he hardly 
escaped with his life; yet he says, 'My prison 
was a place in which I enjoyed much of the 
divine presence; a day seldom passed without 
some token of the divine goodness toward me.'* " 
Somewhat different, though none the less 
Satanic, were the persecutions meted out to 
David Barrow who afterwards came West and 
became one of the ablest and most influential 
16 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Baptist ministers in Kentucky at the beginning 
of the nineteenth, century. Of the rectitude of 
his life, loyalty to the cause of Christ and con- 
stancy of zeal and piety, it would be difficult to 
say too much. But these things did not save 
him from the minions of the persecuting power. 
"In 1778, Mr. Barrow was invited to preach 
at the house of a gentleman, living on Nanse- 
mond river, in Virginia, near the mouth of 
James river. A preacher of the name of Mintz 
accompanied him. On their arrival, they were 
informed that they might expect rough usage. 
And so it happened. A gang of well-dressed 
men came up to the stage, which had been 
erected under some trees. As soon as the hymn 
was given out, the persecutors sang an obscene 
song. They then seized both the preachers and 
dragged them down to a muddy pond, saying 
to them : ' As you are fond of dipping, you shall 
have enough of it.' They then plunged Mr. 
Barrow into the mud and water, holding him 
under until he was almost drowned. They then 
raised him up and asked him derisively if he be- 
lieved. In this manner they plunged him the 
third time, asking him each time if he believed. 
He finally said: 'I believe you will drown me/ 
They plunged Mr. Mintz but once. The whole 
assembly was shocked. The women shrieked. 
17 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

But none dared to interfere; for about twenty 
stout young fellows were engaged in this das- 
tardly conduct. They insulted and abused the 
gentleman who invited them to preach, as well 
as every one who spoke in their favor. Before 
these persecuted men could change their clothes, 
they were dragged from the house and driven 
off by these outrageous churchmen. 

' ' Such were some of the persecutions the Bap- 
tists had to endure only a little over a hundred 
years ago, for no other crime than that of 
preaching the Gospel. And let it not be for- 
gotten that the persecutors were members of the 
Episcopal church, under whose auspices these 
horrid outrages were committed. But while it 
would be unwise to forget that the principles 
which led to these monstrous cruelties in the 
past would lead to the same results again should 
their adherents ever gain sufficient power, yet 
let no one entertain a vindictive, or even un- 
kind, feeling toward the members of that per- 
suasion. ' ' 

It would be super-serviceable to set forth 
again these well-attested occurrences in Baptist 
history, but for the fact that so many, even of 
our own people, have such an inadequate knowl- 
edge of the history of the Baptist denomination, 
and doubtless many persons who have not taken 
18 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

the pains to inform themselves would receive 
with incredulity an account of the persecutions 
suffered by the Baptists in Virginia and other 
colonies before the founding' of the American 
Republic. 

The centennial of American Independence, 
in 1876, was deemed by the Baptists throughout 
the country a fit occasion to recount their his- 
tory and accentuate their distinctive doctrines. 
The people generally were much enlightened 
concerning our history. It was an occasion of 
grateful and stimulating interest But there 
were some surprises where they would have been 
least expected. On one occasion, before a large 
audience in the First Baptist Church in Peters- 
burg, Virginia, the late Dr. J. L. M. Curry 
thrilled his hearers by a simple but masterly re- 
cital of the persecutions and sufferings of Vir- 
ginia Baptists. Of course, he recounted the 
sufferings of the Craigs, Barrows, Wallers, and 
others. On returning home from the meeting, 
the daughter of one of the deacons, a very in- 
telligent young woman, expressed surprise that 
so well-informed a man as Dr. Curry should be- 
lieve that people had ever been persecuted in 
Virginia for preaching the Gospel. And a more 
remarkable case, showing the ignorance of men, 
otherwise well informed, concerning the princi- 
19 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Foivers. 

pies and practices of Baptists, is that which 
used to be told by Dr. J. Wm. Jones, who was, 
at the time of the occurrence, pastor of the Bap- 
tist church in Lexington, Va., and Gen. R. E. 
Lee was at the same time president of Washing- 
ton and Lee College. Dr. Jones and Gen. Lee 
were on intimate terms of friendship with each 
other, and frequently exchanged social calls. 
General Lee called on Dr. Jones one afternoon 
when he was not at home. The next time they 
had occasion to meet, Dr. Jones expressed regret 
that he was not in when the General called. To 
this, Gen. Lee replied that the visit was nothing 
more than the recognition of social amenities be- 
tween neighbors and friends, and he observed 
that he supposed the Doctor had been called 
to the home of one of his parishoners to christen 
an infant, or was engaged in some other pastoral 
duty. 

Now, it is not unreasonable to believe that 
the stories of the persecutions and sufferings in 
Virginia, so unrighteously inflicted on our Bap- 
tist forefathers, and so patiently and courage- 
ously endured by them, were, again and again, 
told in the presence of Nancy Ellis — the future 
mother of our (hero — who was old enough to 
have known and heard many of the men and 
women who had perfect knowledge of the par- 
20 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

ties that were the victims of so unrighteous pro- 
ceedings. And the results of scientific observa- 
tion and the uniform teachings of the Bible 
justify us in believing that the repeated narra- 
tion of those stirring scenes and events made a 
lasting impression on the young mind and im- 
pressible heart of the future mother of our hero 
and entered largely into the formation of her 
character; and, in like manner, a knowledge of 
those events, being transmitted to her son, they 
became an appreciable factor in determining the 
manner of man he should become. We shall 
learn more of our hero's mother when he tells 
us of her beautiful character and her teachings 
and influence on his early life. 

Mr. Powers was born at a time in the settle- 
ment and development of our Commonwealth, 
when many of the revolutionary heroes were 
still living. John Adams and Thomas Jefferson 
had a little more than two years to live when 
the fourth child of Clement Powers and his wife 
was born. Isaac Shelby, the first Governor of 
Kentucky, died in the same month that Jefferson 
did. James Monroe died in 1831. John Mar- 
shall and James Madison lived on till the year 
1836, twelve years after Mr. Powers was born. 
Henry Clay, who has been in his grave more 
than sixty years, was at the zenith of his bril- 
21 



The IAfe of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

liant career as orator, statesman and diplomat, 
when our hero first saw the light. 

Many of the Baptist pioneers in the Com- 
monwealth were still living and in active service 
when Mr. Powers was born. Walter Warder 
lived till the year 1836. Edmund Waller labored 
on till the year 1842, and his distinguished son, 
John L. Waller, was born only seventeen years 
before the subject of this biography, and he 
reached the zenith of his powers shortly after 
our hero attained to man's estate. For many 
years, Mr. Powers was neighbor to Wm. 
Vaughan, who was born in Pennsylvania, Febru- 
ary 22, 1785, and died at Danville, Ky., March 31, 
1877. Of this truly great man and prince in 
Israel, Dr. J. M. Pendleton wrote to Dr. Spencer 
on this wise : ' ' I have heard the great preachers, 
so called, East and West, North and South, but 
I have heard no man superior to Dr. Vaughan." 

The stirring days of the founding of the 
American Republic seem a long time back, and 
yet just a few links in the chain of time join us 
with that period. It is not a little remarkable 
that Mr. Powers was, so to speak, contemporary 
with every man that has been president of the 
United States, except George Washington, in- 
cluding Woodrow Wilson, the present in- 
cumbent of the White House. 
22 



III. 

EARLY ENVIRONMENTS. 

Walter E. Powers was the son of a prosper- 
ous farmer, and from childhood, both by pre- 
cept and example, he was taught the importance 
of industry and economy. This teaching and ex- 
ample were not lost on the lad. After he reached 
manhood, it was ever a characteristic of him to 
do with his might whatsoever he found to do. 
He recognized the fact that ' ' the soul 's play-day 
is Satan's work-day; the idler the man, the 
busier the tempter." In his business trans- 
actions, before and after he became a preacher, 
he was scrupulously honest and prompt to meet 
all his obligations. He was wary of incurring 
obligations when there were not reasonable 
grounds for believing he would be able to meet 
them at maturity. And when he gave up his 
business and entered the ministry, he asked for 
no indulgence because he was a preacher and 
received an inadequate and uncertain stipend 
for his services. This same diligence and sense 
of obligation in financial affairs characterized 
his bearing as a pastor and preacher, even after 
he had passed his four-score years. Never pastor 
of any churches, except those located in rural 
23 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Potvers. 

districts, and sometimes living at a distance of 
thirty miles from them, yet he never failed to 
be at his appointments on time. The winter 
winds never blew too cold, nor did the summer 
suns shine too hot for him to go to his appoint- 
ments. A very interesting and characteristic 
story is handed down, which illustrates the per- 
sistence of the man. In going to one of his 
monthly appointments at Liberty Church in 
Oldham County, he had to travel over roads that 
had been made nearly impassable by recent 
heavy rains. But about one mile of the way, not 
very far from the church, the road was: a con- 
tinuous mudhole and often the wheels of the 
buggy would sink to the axles. After going a 
short distance on this part of the road, the 
trust old horse, Charlie, stopped stock still. The 
preacher tried to coax him to go on, but he 
wouldn't budge a step. He cut him with the 
whip, but that only made him more refractory. 
Something must be done immediately, or the 
pastor would not get to the church on time. So 
the preacher threw the buggy robe over Char- 
lie's back and crawled out on it. The horse 
then responded promptly when he *was told to 
go on; and thus the pastor rode on to the. 
church, where a large congregation awaited his 
coming. One result of this unusual experience 

24 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

was, that at the next meeting of the fiscal court 
of Oldham County, a petition was presented to 
have an allowance made for the improvement of 
the road. The allowance was granted, and the 
road was improved. 

When not in school, the boys in the Powers 
home were required to work on the farm, and 
the girls were taught and required to practice 
the acts of household industry and economy. 
Seventy-five years ago, the economic position of 
women in the average Kentucky home was very 
different from what it is today. I suspect that 
there are men and women in many rural dis- 
tricts today who never saw a spinning wheel or 
a loom. At the time of which the author writes, 
the greater part of the cloth of which the wear- 
ing apparel was made for both men and women, 
was manufactured in the home, and the hum 
of the spinning wheel, the noise of the loom and 
the rattle of the shuttle, as it was driven back 
and forth by skilful hands, were familiar sounds 
in every well-ordered Kentucky home. The 
sight and sound of these implements of industry 
were a part of the everyday life of our hero. 

Like many boys and girls of that day, and 

this, too, Walter thought the exactions of father 

and mother as to diligence and obedience were 

too severe ; but after a lapse of seventy-five 

25 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

years, a backward look on many years of expe- 
rience and. observation enabled him to see things 
in a different light and thus he could give a 
more unbiased judgment as to the discipline in 
the home in which he was brought up. It was 
hard for him then to see that discipline was not 
intended for the pleasure of his parents and an 
unnecessary interference with the pleasures of 
the children. In his old age, he could look back 
and see that what were deemed -unnecessary 
restraints and painful chastisements were im- 
posed by the hands of a father and mother who 
had only love for their children. 

One little bit of experience was still vivid in 
the memory of Mr. Powers when he was ninety 
years old. In the distribution! of labor on the 
farm, it generally fell to his lot to act as mill- 
boy. Once a week, a sack of corn was prepared 
for the old-fashioned watermill. The corn was 
generally brought into the family room, after 
the evening meal, on the cob and shelled by 
hand and early next morning Walter would 
have to mount the horse with the sack of corn 
under him and go to the mill and return in time 
for school, if school were in session. Some of 
the bright lads who are in school today would 
find going to mill in this way a more difficult 
performance than it seems to be in the telling 
26 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Pavers. 

of it In the first place, the com had to be so 
divided that there would be an equal amount in 
each end of the sack and then laid on the horse 
with mathematical precision, and when the rider 
mounted, he would have to sit with military 
erectness, lest the equilibrium should be de- 
stroyed and the sack of corn would slide to the 
ground. This misfortune has befallen many a 
boy in going to mill and then he would have to 
wait till some one came along and helped him 
get the sack on the horse again. 

The facilities for acquiring an education 
during the boyhood days of our hero were not 
so good as they are today. And yet good and 
effective work was accomplished in the schools 
of that period. Many of the lawyers, doctors 
and preachers, who afterwards attained to emi- 
nence in their professions, received their prelim- 
inary training in those schools. Walter was 
kept in school with more regularity than the 
average boy in the neighborhood, and he en- 
joj^ed all the advantages offered by the common 
schools at that time. Moreover, he was per- 
mitted to attend some select schools. These 
schools were sometimes taught by a man who 
acted in the three-fold capacity of teacher, trus- 
tee and disciplinarian. In short, the school was 
his, and effective teaching was the only basis of 
27 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

his appeal for securing students whose parents 
or guardians paid for their tuition. Then, 
again, these schools were taught in what was 
called "the Academy/' where two or more 
teachers worked together in conducting a school. 
The Powers boy received training in one such 
school that was presided over by Thomas Rice, 
whose intellectual furnishings and scholarly at- 
tainments attracted the notice of the trustees of 
Georgetown College, and they offered him the 
presidency of that institution. This offer, how- 
ever, was declined by Mr. Rice, and he con- 
tinued teaching a select school which Walter at- 
tended for several years. Also he received in- 
struction in another school of the same kind con- 
ducted by one Professor P. D. Porter. So it can 
be said that he received a fair English educa- 
tion, and it is known also that he acquired some 
knowledge of the Latin language, though he 
never became proficient in reading that lan- 
guage. 



23 



IV. 
BORN AGAIN. 

"The wind bloweth where it listeth, and 
thou nearest the sound thereof, but canst not 
tell whence it cometh and whither it goeth : so 
is every one that is born of the Spirit.'' There 
is something in the spiritual life which cannot 
be explained or fully comprehended and which 
reveals itself only in its manifestations and can 
be known only by experience; it is a life which no 
one can trace backwards to its origin or forward 
to its culmination. But there is also present in 
every genuine conversion the human element 
which can, in a measure, be understood. While 
reverently acknowledging the sovereignty of 
God in the matter of salvation, there are many 
wise and good men who hold that in conversion 
the human agency is always present. 

Mr. Powers never could trace in detail all 
the human influences that led to his conversion. 
In his case, however, as in all others, human 
agencies had their part in bringing about his 
salvation. It was his good fortune to be the son 
of a mother who studiously read her Bible and 
meditated on its teachings, incorporated them 
into her life and diligently taught them to her 
29 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

children. With a heart made tender and gra- 
cious by God's redeeming love, she endeavored 
to impart to her children as they grew to the 
years of accountability, the divine truths that 
had been blessed to her conversion and had gone 
into the building of her character. These truths 
were strikingly exemplified in her life and illus- 
trated in her daily walk and conversation. She 
not only taught her son to eschew evil and love 
righteousness, but with line upon line, and pre- 
cept upon precept, she impressed on him the 
fact that sin had wrought great havoc in the 
world. And she fertilized her teachings with 
prayers and tears. Thus the mother whose in- 
fluence was seemingly confined to the four walls 
of her own house was lodging a Christian prin- 
ciple in the heart of a son who was to give it 
currency in one form or other to the remotest 
corners of the earth. 

Another important factor in effecting Wal- 
ter's conversion, was the preaching of Edward 
Gardner Berry, who was pastor of Dover Church 
in Shelby County, of which his mother was a 
member at the time of his conversion. The crisis 
in his religious experience came in the autumn 
of 1839, when he was in his sixteenth year. It 
was in October of that year when the pastor 
was assisted in a meeting of days by Rev. John 
30 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Dale. Walter was under conviction when the 
meeting came on. He was greatly troubled on 
account of both individual sins and multiplied 
transgressions. He was not only ashamed and 
distressed, because he was conscious of having 
committed so many acts of voluntary trans- 
gression, but the burden of sin was the more 
grievous because of the fact that the doing of 
these things seemed to show that he was the kind 
of person to whom it was natural to do them. 
This was his great burden, and how to get rid 
of it was the one thing he anxiously sought. It 
was not difficult to see how God could save a 
good man, but to save one the very springs of 
whose moral life were tainted with sin was be- 
yond his comprehension. So, like many another 
man has done, he set about to make himself 
good by prayer and the doing of everything else 
in his power which he thought would make him 
a better boy. His efforts were futile ; he found 
no relief, rather, the burden became more oner- 
ous. In this hour of darkness and distress, the 
plain teachings of the Bible were brought ef- 
fectively home to him. These fundamental 
truths so often heard and hitherto unheeded 
were accepted by him when no other way of de- 
liverance could be found. The one Scripture on 
which his soul laid fast hold was the golden 
31 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

text: "God so loved the world, that he gave his 
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in 
him should not perish but have everlasting 
life." These truths he believed with all his 
heart. So when he abandoned the hope of sal- 
vation by making himself good and put his trust 
in the Lord Jesus Christ, there came into 
his heart the sweet consciousness of acceptance 
with God, and he became possessed of that 
peace which passeth all understanding. As in 
every case of genuine conversion, so with him, 
there were some features that elude the power 
of adequate expression and can only be known 
by those who have felt the burden of sin and 
then experienced the joy consequent on its re- 
moval. When Walter was converted, he had a 
very high estimate of the privileges and obliga- 
tions of a member of the church ; so high was his 
estimate of these duties and privileges that, not- 
withstanding the peace that flooded his soul, he 
did not deem himself good enough to justify his 
application for membership in the church. Is 
it not always true that, when one becomes a 
child of God by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ 
and has a well-grounded hope of salvation by 
grace, his moral senses become quickened and 
the sense of un worthiness becomes intensified? 
Doubtless, this high ideal of conduct and the 
32 




WAI/TER EEEIS POWERS 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

conscious inability to live up to it have deterred 
many persons from uniting with the church 
when they were first converted. It was so in 
the case of this young man. But the preachers 
and members of Dover Church thought his place 
was in the fold, and not on the outside. So he 
was baptized by Elder E. G. Berry, the 17th day 
of October, 1839, and became a member of 
Dover Church, where his membership remained 
till he moved with his family into the neighbor- 
hood of Long Run Church with which he then 
became identified and where his membership 
was when he died. 

These two preachers, John Dale and E. 
Gardner Berry, deserve at least a passing notice 
in this connection, not only because of their as- 
sociation with the early religious experience of 
the subject of this biography, but because of 
their intrinsic worth of character and their un- 
remitting and successful labors in the Kingdom. 
They were both effective preachers of the Gospel 
and labored diligently to build up the churches 
within the bounds of Long Run, Shelby and 
Sulphur Fork Associations. 

John Dale was born in Woodford County, 

Kentucky, November 6, 1789 ; was born again 

when lie was only twelve year old, and was 

baptized by Edmund Waller in the year 1801 

33 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

and became a member of Hillsboro church in 
his native county. Removing to Shelby County 
in the year 1818, he located on Long Run, a 
small tributary of Floyd's Fork, and united 
with South Long Run Church. The church 
here soon recognized 1 the worth of his character 
and, believing he had the Scriptural qualifica- 
tions for the making of an effective preacher, 
they licensed him to preach, and about the year 
1825, when he was thirty-eight years old, he was 
ordained and set apart to preach the Gospel. 
Immediately after his ordination, he was called 
to the pastoral care of Long Run Church, to 
which he transferred his membership, where it 
remained till a church was organized at Simp- 
sonville, of which he also became pastor. He 
was also pastor of Dover and Pleasant Grove 
churches. Under his ministry at Long Run, 
during a pastorate of fifteen years, the church 
received into its fellowship on profession of 
faith in Christ and by baptism, 305 members 
and within nine years at Simpsonville, he bap- 
tized 297. 

Concerning this pre-eminently successful 
pastor, Dr. Spencer writes thus: " Among the 
many faithful ministers of the Cross that have 
labored to build up the cause of truth within 
the bounds of Long Run Association, none have 
34 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

been more successful than John Dale. During 
a period of twenty years, he labored with tire- 
less zeal, and was during that period the most 
popular minister in the Association. As an ex- 
positor of the (Scriptures, he was below medioc- 
rity. His principal gift was that of exhortation, 
and in this he has seldom or never been sur- 
passed. He always drew large congregations, 
and never failed to rivet attention. Weeping 
and rejoicing commingled in every Congregation 
he preached to. His exhortations consisted 
mainly of quotations from the Scriptures, so 
forcibly applied that the effect was electrical. 
Although not a scholar, a profound thinker, nor 
a logician, he was eminently a great man. But, 
above all, he maintained a spotless Christian 
character. ' ' 

Edwin Gardner Berry was born in Clark 
County in the year 1801, the year John Dale 
was baptized. He was the son of Lewis Berry, 
and his mother was a daughter of Elder William 
Rash, many descendants of whom have lived 
nobly and wrought well in Clark County. Mr. 
Berry's parents were not by any means in af- 
fluent circumstances, and his opportunities for 
acquiring an education were limited. He was 
fond of music and studied that science to such 
effect he was able to teach the rudiments of it 
35 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers, 

to others. And having a voice of great compass 
and more than ordinary sweetness, and having 
affable manners, he was a welcome member in 
every circle, whether religious or social. In the 
year 1821, he was married to Ellen Strode, the 
daughter of John Strode. Also the descendants 
of the: Strodes are many, and favorably known 
throughout the Central Bluegrass region of 
Kentucky. Mrs. Berry was a remarkable 
woman in many respects. She might very ap- 
propriately be described as the counterpart of 
the virtuous woman, a pen portrait of which 
Solomon gives: "She looketh well to the ways 
of her household and eateth not the bread of 
idleness. Her children rise up and call her 
blessed ; her husband also, and he praiseth her. ' ' 
Mrs. Berry became the mother of eighteen chil- 
dren, fourteen of whom grew up and became 
members of Baptist churches. Moreover, this 
remarkable couple took into their home four 
orphans, which they educated and brought up 
to manhood and womanhood. It is no marvel 
that Mr. Berry could say that he owed his suc- 
cess in life as much to his wife's industry and 
skilful management of household affairs as to 
his own energy and prudence. 

In the year 1824, Mr. Berry and his wife 
moved to Henry County and located on a farm 
36 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

not far from New Castle, the county seat. In 
the year 1828 a most remarkable revival visited 
New Castle under the ministry of Silas M. Noel 
and Jeremiah Vardeman, when one hundred 
and sixty-five souls were converted and received 
into the fellowship of the Baptist Church. Mr. 
Berry and his wife were among the number. He 
continued to live on his farm near New Castle 
till the year 1834, when he moved to a farm near 
East Fork Church in the same county, and in 
June of that year, he and his wife united with 
that church. Very soon after casting in his lot 
with the East Fork Church, he was chosen a 
deacon. The following year, he was licensed to 
preach, and within a few months he was or- 
dained to the ministry. At this time, he was 
about thirty-four years old. Not very long after 
his ordination, he became pastor of the Baptist 
church at LaGrange, which he served for twen- 
ty-six years. From the first, he became actively 
identified with the work in Sulphur Fork Asso- 
ciation. His sterling worth and the abounding 
confidence in him was shown by the fact that 
he was elected moderator of that old fraternity 
for fifty years in succession. Mr. Berry's 
preaching abilities were not marked at the be- 
ginning. From the first, however, he was a dil- 
igent student of the Bible, and never advanced 
37 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

a proposition that was not sustained by the 
teachings of the Scriptures. His pulpit minis- 
trations were noted for their plain, practical 
bearings on the plan of salvation and the growth 
of Christian 1 character, rather than for being 
profound and brilliant. His preaching was pre- 
eminently Biblical and was permeated with the 
very spirit of the Gospel. He was frequently 
called on to preach at associations and on other 
extraordinary occasions and was never known to 
make a failure. Having studied his subject 
thoroughly and knowing beforehand what he 
wanted to say, he delivered his message and sat 
down. From the time of his ordination till he 
had passed his four-score years, he enjoyed a 
good degree of success in the ministry. 

Mr. Powers often heard these godly minis- 
ters preach before he was converted, and in the 
early days of his Christian life and in his 
father's home after his conversion, they were 
frequently guests, and thus he had opportuni- 
ties of a closer touch with them. But the lustre 
of their character was not dimmed by a near 
view. The enchanted view of ithe distance was 
confirmed by immediate contact. With Mr. 
Berry, our hero was often engaged in revival 
meetings in the early days of his ministry, and 
being a man of close observation, having a re- 
38 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

ceptive mind and a heart appreciative of all that 
is noble and good in others, it is no marvel that 
the young preacher profited by such noble ex- 
amples as he found in the lives and teachings 
of these devoted servants of God. 



sy 



V. 

MARRIAGE. 

When Walter was about eighteen years old 
his father died and with his death every feasible 
way of acquiring an education was closed. The 
labor of his hands was needed on the farm. An 
older brother rented the farm and Walter work- 
ed with him. This arrangement continued for 
a few months when a man in the neighborhood, 
who iowned several servants, proposed that 
young Powers should take the oversight of his 
farm and servants. At first the young man 
declined because his labor was needed at home. 
However, when the farmer offered him a liberal 
compensation for his services he accepted the 
proposition and engaged to take the manage- 
ment of the farm. The stipulated sum was 
$25.00 per month, in addition to which he re- 
ceived his board, washing and the keep of his 
horse free. This was regarded as a generous 
wage at that time, when the purchasing power 
of money was much above what it is at this 
writing. Coming from a shrewd and success- 
ful business man, this proposition was quite a 
compliment to a young man who still lacked 
41 



The Life of Rev. Walter ElUs Powers. 

three years of reaching his majority. Young 
as he was, however, Walter was well aware that 
this was no charity arrangement, a full equiva- 
lent for all that he received was to be returned. 
With this understanding he entered on the 
management of the farm. This contract con- 
tinued for two years, during which time no com- 
plaint was heard from the employer. At the 
end of two years, however, young Powers de- 
clined to enter into an engagement for another 
year, and he went to live with a widowed sister 
with whom he remained two years, and during 
the time had the management of her farm. 

On the 26th day of June, 1845, Mr. Powers 
attained his majority and thus became possessed 
of the privileges of an American citizen — in 
conventional phrase, he became a freeman, 
could own property in his own name, and was 
no longer subject to tutors and governors. But 
he did not choose long to abide in this new f ree^ 
dom. In scientific parlance, he became obsessed 
with the passion of mate-hunger, and so, on the 
11th day of September, 1845, having won the 
hand and heart of Miss Mary Jane Hurstman, 
the daughter of Mathiasi Hurstman and Lucy 
Hurstman, his wife, he was joined to her in the 
bands of holy wedlock. From every considera- 
tion this was a happy union. It brought good 
42 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

and gladness of heart to all concerned. It falls 
to the lot of few men to have 1 a more loyal, 
thoughtful and capable helpmate than had Mr. 
Powers. Very few children ever had a more 
affectionate, considerate and resourceful mother 
than the Powers children. 

When the war-cloud burst on the country, 
in 1861, Mr. and Mrs. Powers were in more than 
easy pecuniary circumstances; they had enough 
and to spare. And those who knew them in 
those days of temporal prosperity testify that 
the reputation of Kentucky's hospitality did 
not suffer in their hands. But while there was 
nothing lacking in the way of entertaining their 
friends, on the other hand, nothing was carried 
to the length of prodigality, nothing was ever 
done for mere ostentation. In entertaining 
their friends, the one end in view was that both 
hosts and guests should have good fellowship, 
and that their social intercourse should result 
in genuine recreation of both mind and body. 
After Mr. and Mrs. Powers became established 
in their own home, not many days passed when 
there was not one, or more, guests to break 
bread with them, and often visits of a day were 
prolonged into weeks. But the presence of 
guests in the home never jarred the domestic 
machinery ; parents, children and servants went 
43 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

on with their daily vocations as though there 
were no guests present. 

And when there were no guests in the home, 
daily life did not settle down to a humdrum 
affair. How could it? Six husky boys and five 
sprightly girls were born into the Powers home, 
and under the fostering care of parents, more 
than ordinarily endowed with the genius of 
common sense, they grew to manhood and 
womanhood. Something was always doing in 
that home. 

One great aspiration of a father and mother 
is to bring up their children in such a way 
that when they attain the age of manhood and 
womanhood they may become useful members 
of society, state and church. The combined 
wisdom and efforts of 'both parents are needed 
to accomplish this desired end. And yet, not 
infrequently, after the most praiseworthy 
efforts the finished product of this combined 
wisdom and patience is far from being satis- 
factory. It is often the case that in families 
where there is a large number of children, there 
will be a foolish son who is a grief to his father, 
or a wayward daughter who is a shame to her 
mother. However, when parents are permitted 
to see their children grow up to manhood and 
womanhood and when, both from training and 
44 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

intuition, they recognize the wise or proper 
course to pursue and then conduct themselves 
accordingly, we know that the heaven-ordained 
function of the homo has been fulfilled. This 
divine purpose of marriage was successfully 
accomplished in the home of Walter E. Powers 
and his wife. 

Not only must the minds of children be edu- 
cated and their morals looked after, but their 
bodies must be clothed and fed. And the 
amount of food a large family of boys and girls 
can consume and the quantity of clothing they 
can wear out in the course of a year are known 
only to the father and mother who have to pro- 
vide them. And surely it is no minor task to 
feed eleven mouths and clothe eleven bodies and 
keep shoes on twenty-two feet. But nothing 
less than this fell to the lot of Mr. Powers and 
his wife. To meet their responsibilities as 
parents required the greatest diligence and rare 
good judgment on his part, and skill, economy 
and industry on hers. So he addressed himself 
to the task before him by engaging in tilling 
the soil, trading in stock, and for a while he en- 
gaged in the mercantile business. Thus he con- 
tinued in this threefold manner of acquiring a 
livelihood without interruption for twelve or 
thirteen years. His business ventures prospered 
45 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

and lie was thus not only able to provide for 
the recurrent wants of a growing family, but 
he paid for the farm on which he was living 
and also purchased a number of slaves. 

The claims of business took strong hold on 
Mr. Powers and he gave himself to it with a 
will. Meantime the claims of his church sat 
loosely on him and he fell far short of meeting 
all the obligations of a church-member and liv- 
ing up to the privileges of a Christian. His 
conduct, however, was more in the line of duties 
omitted rather than in the violation of specific 
rules of Christian' conduct. Thus it came to 
pass that exclusive devotion to secular affairs 
was at the loss of spiritual growth . The order 
of procedure laid down by the Great Teacher 
is to seek first the Kingdom of God and his 
righteousness. Our hero was reversing this 
divine order in the first twelve years of his 
wedded life. He did not yet recognize that the 
interests of the Kingdom are to have the right 
of way on all occasions and in all places. Life 
does need certain supports and appliances ; how- 
ever, they are few indeed and simple, and, when 
men live according to the divine order they are 
adequate and constant. The laws of the King- 
dom inhibit no necessary occupations, no 
reasonable pleasures, no innocent relaxations. 
46 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

All things belong to the people of Go&^-this 
marvelous life, so full of meaning, so pregnant 
with golden opportunities. But these things 
are theirs on this condition: That they them- 
selves are Christ's. When the law of the Cross 
becomes the law of life, when men have learned 
to surrender themselves, then and then only 
can they claim to be creation's heirs. 

When Saul was consenting unto the death 
of Stephen, God had his eyes on the young 
Pharisee, when he made havoc of the church, 
entering into every house and haling men and 
women, committed them to prison, God was 
looking on, and when he continued to breathe 
out threaten ings and slaughter against the dis- 
ciples, the Lord was marking his every move- 
ment. God looked down from heaven on this 
young man, not as an adversary whose assaults 
are formidable, but as an instrument which may 
be turned to another use. As clay in the hands 
of the potter this man lies. Saul, of Tarsus, 
called to be an apostle, is a conspicuous example 
of Divine Sovereignty. He did not first choose 
Christ, but Christ chose him. In his greetings 
to the churches, in all his episfles, Paul gives 
conspicuous recognition to the Divine (Sover- 
eignity, and in the Galatian letter he declares 
himself to have been called, "not of men, 
47 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God 
the Father, who raised him from the dead. ' ' 

In choosing his instruments God is no less 
a sovereign to-day than he was when he called 
Saul to the apostleship. The accessories in re- 
vealing his sovereignty may not be as much in 
evidence as they were when Saul was laid hold 
of by the hands of God in such dramatic 
fashion. But they are always present. We 
don't know why the Lord did not lay his hand 
on Walter Ellis Powers before he did any more 
than we know why he allowed Saul to stain his 
hands with the blood of his saints. We don't 
know why He allowed our hero to give the first 
dozen years of his young manhood to a success- 
ful business career and then deprive him of 
the fruits of his labors. We may speculate 
about both, but absolute knowledge in the one 
ease, as well as in the other, is beyond our ken. 
Doubtless, the Lord has often set apart men to 
engage in business and accumulate property to 
promote the interests of the Kingdom. Many 
illustrations of a Divine call to a business life 
could be cited, but one will suffice. Deacon 
William Colgate was such a man. He was one 
of the most consecrated and noble laymen in 
the Baptist denomination, seventy-five years 
ago, in America. He founded and built up a 
48 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

large manufacturing business in the city of 
New York, which, by the superior merits of its 
products, and by his skill and diligence, en- 
dowed him with abundant means of doing good. 
His elevated character and Christ-like spirit led 
him to the noblest acts of benevolence in the 
building of churches, schools for the education 
of young ministers, the missionary enterprise 
and the relief of the poor. A pure Bible was 
also as dear to Mr. Colgate as his own life, and 
few men have done more to give such a Bible 
to the world. Bible revision among Baptists 
seventy-five years ago was a live question, and, 
strange to say, all Baptists were not in favor 
of revision. But Deacon Colgate favored revi- 
sion with all his heart. And when a small 
edition of the New Testament was called for, 
setting forth the character of the emendations 
desired, in regard to obsolete words and phrases 
that failed to express the meaning of the 
original Greek and other errors of translation, 
he signified his approval of the request and 
assumed the responsibility of paying the cost 
of the plates and printing. 

However, notwithstanding the marked suc- 
cess of Mr. Powers as a 'business man, the Lord 
clearly indicated that he had work for him other 
than that of money getting. And when he was 
49 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

called to another and different sphere of activ- 
ity in the Kingdom, the fact was made known 
to him, not in a spectacular manner, but quietly 
and unobtrusively, and yet none the less un- 
mistakably. 

As a premonitory step to his being called 
into the ministry, God did not so order that 
he should first be deprived of his property. It is 
a fact, however, that his temporal possessions 
were wrested from his hands, as it were, by one 
turn of the wheel, but not till he had been 
preaching several years and had given good 
proof his ministry. In the first impressions of 
his being called as a minister of the gospel the 
human element is as clearly recognized as it 
was in his conversion. 



50 



VI. 
THE DIVINE LEADINGS. 

The method by which God made known his 
will to the prospective preacher and the church 
of which he was a member was somewhat on 
this wise: Soon after Mr. Powers reached his 
majority he joined the Masonic Fraternity 
and, after a few years, he was elected to preside 
over the business meetings in the lodge of which 
he was a member. In order to show his appre- 
ciation of the confidence placed in him, also the 
ambition to conduct the meetings in an orderly 
manner, he applied himself to the study of par- 
liamentary law and the rules governing deliber- 
ative bodies. Thus while studying parliamen- 
tary law, he was also presiding in the lodge 
meetings and had an opportunity of becoming 
proficient in the application of the knowledge 
acquired. In the course of a few years, Mr 
Powers became known throughout the Masonic 
Fraternity in the Commonwealth as a skilful 
and efficient presiding officer. 

I suppose that in the majority of Baptist 

churches in Kentucky the pastor presides over 

the business meetings of the church. But this 

is not the case in all churches. In some sections 

51 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

of the state it is the custom to call a layman 
to preside over the deliberative meetings of the 
church. In some churches the moderator is 
elected for an indefinite term. But almost uni- 
versally among country churches, fifty years 
ago, the custom was to transact all their busi- 
ness at a Saturday meeting held in the fore- 
noon. After the sermon the church was called 
to order by the moderator!, an opportunity was 
given for any one to join the church, whether 
by letter or by experience and baptism. These 
Saturday meetings were also the occasions 
when all cases of discipline were considered, 
and the finances of the church attended to. And 
not infrequently the pastor utilized these occa- 
sions for imparting instruction to the members 
of the church concerning the fundamental 
doctrines of the Bible, and the principles that 
distinguish the Baptists from other denomina- 
tions. Some of the subjects discussed were 
these: The qualifications for church member- 
ship, the place and meaning of the ordinances 
in the New Testament economy, and the obliga- 
tions to carry the message of the gospel to the 
regions beyond. Mr. Powers thinks this fidelity 
in indoctrinating the members of the church 
accounts for the fact that in that day men were 
often taken from the pew and placed in the 
52 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

pulpit. This was strikingly true in the case of 
himself, John Dale, E. G. Berry, and J. B. 
Moody, not one of whom began preaching be- 
fore he was thirty-four years old. 

The first office that Mr. Powers ever held 
in the church was that of Moderator. It came 
about on this wise. On one occasion when the 
church came together on a Saturday morning 
for the transaction of business, it was found 
that the regularly elected moderator was not 
present. While the brethren were informally 
talking over the subject of a moderator pro- 
tem, the pastor suggested that they had in their 
own church one of the best moderators in the 
state, and he mentioned the name of Mr. 
Powers. He was invited to act as moderator 
that day, and very soon afterwards he was 
elected to preside regularly over the business 
meetings of Long Run Church., 

In the course of a few months after Mr. 
Powers became moderator of the church his 
responsibilities as a Christian and a member of 
the church began to weigh more heavily on him. 
This sense of responsibility was made more 
acute by a conversation between himself and 
wife. They had been to church on one occasion, 
and while returning to their home the subject 
of religion was discussed by them, and they 
53 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

were both specially depressed, because of the 
lethargy that had settled down on their church. 
There was manifest very little spiritual life and 
no serious effort to extend the boundaries of 
the Kingdom. Mrs. Powers remarked that she 
knew where the trouble was; that they were all 
remiss in their daily walk and conversation. 
And without wasting time and talk over pre- 
vailing conditions in the church, she brought 
the matter nearer to themselves by saving they 
should have family prayers in their home. 
Their responsibilities as church members, and 
especially as parents whose children were grow- 
ing up around them accentuated the situation, 
and her husband was compelled to acknowledge 
that she was right. But there were difficulties 
in the way. However imperative the call for a 
man to do his duty, he will always find some 
obstacle in the way. The long neglected duty 
of divine worship in the home was not to be 
taken up without a consideration of the difficul- 
ties sure to be encountered. One difficulty 
seemed formidable enough to deter him from 
assuming the responsibility of beginning to 
conduct daily family worship. At this time 
Mr. Powers had extensivje business relations 
and necessarily had dealings with other busi- 
ness men. And he was apprehensive that if he 
54 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

began to hold family worship in the evening, 
and should his friends visit him and remain over 
night, his courage would fail him and he would 
let the worship go by default. But the good 
wife and considerate mother was resourceful 
and came to the rescue. She had already antici- 
pated the difficulties he presented and dis- 
counted them. No doubt his friends would 
often be stopping with him in the future as 
they had in the past, and when they remained 
overnight she would undertake to arrange the 
situation so that there would be little or no 
embarrassment. Accordingly an opportunity 
soon presented itself to test the resourcefulness 
of the good wife and the courage of the hus- 
band. A business friend was a guest in the 
home for a night, and after supper the host and 
his friend talked politics, business and the cur- 
rent topics of the day, and when the hour came 
for them to retire, Mrs. Powers set the light in 
the proper place and handed the Bible to her 
husband and said: "It is bedtime, let us have 
prayer and retire." The husband's courage 
did not fail him, and thus it came about that 
in no strained and stilted manner, daily wor- 
ship was established in the Powers home, never 
to be discontinued till the wife and mother 
had been called from labor to reward and the 
55 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

sons and daughters had gone from the home of 
their childhood' to establish homes for them- 
selves. It is no wonder that Mr. Powers, in 
his old age, held sacred the memory of the wife 
of his young manhood, who always seconded 
his best efforts and often led the way in meet- 
ing the obligations mutually resting on them. 

In the year 1858, in the month of October, 
Long Run Church was engaged in a protracted 
meeting. At the time Rev. John Dulaney was 
pastor of the church, who, according to Dr. 
Spencer, possessed small preaching gifts and 
was not otherwise very profitable in the minis- 
try. However that may be, it is to his credit 
that he recognized ministerial gifts in Walter 
Ellis Powers. The first efforts of the meeting 
were to arouse in the members of the church a 
sense of their responsibility concerning the un- 
converted in the community. Even before the 
meeting began Mr. Powers was troubled with 
the feeling that he was not doing his whole 
duty, nor living up to the full privileges of an 
heir of the Kingdom. One morning, in the devo- 
tional meeting that usually preceded the more 
formal preaching services, after several prayers 
had been offered and a number of talks had 
been made, the pastor remarked that they would 
be glad to hear from Bro. Powers if he had 
56 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

anything in his heart he would like to tell. Mr. 
Powers had been wanting to give expression to 
the feelings in his heart, but had not been able 
hitherto to summons the courage to do so. How- 
ever, when the pastor invited him to speak, he 
pulled himself together and unbosomed himself 
to the brethren. He never could recall every 
thing he said on this occasion, but one thing, 
even in his old age, stood out with vividness. 
He confessed his shortcomings and deplored 
his want of diligence as a member of the church 
and avowed his purpose, henceforth, to live dif- 
ferently, and he closed by requesting his breth- 
ren that if they had anything for him to do 
he would be glad for them to tell him and he 
would try to do it. When he had ceased talk- 
ing and taken his seat, the pastor, without 
preaching any formal sermon, invited those who 
wished to join the church to come forward; also 
those who wished to be prayed for, whether 
members of the church or not, were requested 
to come forward and give the pastor their 
hands. The whole audience, as if moved by one 
common impulse, came forward and gave the 
piastor their hands, thus signifying their desire 
to be prayed for. After the services closed and 
the congregation was dispersing, Mr. Powers 
asked the pastor why he had omitted the ser- 
57 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

moii. The reply of the pastor to this question 
was that one sermon was enough and that Mr. 
Powers himself had preached it, and that none 
of them could do so well as he had done. And, 
looking him straight in the eyes, he said: 
"Bro. Powers, you can preach and you had just 
as well roll up your sleeves and go at it. ' ' The 
members of the church as well as the pastor 
were impressed with the talk and recognized 
in him ministerial gifts. And so a few days 
after he made his talk, at the regular business 
meeting of the church, Mr. Powers was granted 
permission to exercise his gifts, and at the same 
time was requested by the church to preach 
for them one Sunday in each month. So the 
announcement was made that he would preach 
at his home church two weeks from the time 
when he was granted license to exercise his 
ministerial gifts. Having two weeks to get 
ready to deliver his maiden sermon, he im- 
mediately set about funding a text from which 
to preach, and after much reading and medita- 
tion he selected the Scripture in which Moses 
announced his authority for going to the ancient 
Hebrews to deliver them from, Egyptian bond- 
age: "I AM hath sent me unto you." The 
writer of this sketch is not advised as to the 
nature of the message in this first effort to 
5S 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

preach the gospel, but it is in evidence that Mr. 
Powers never afterwards selected this text as 
a basis for a sermon. But having begun this 
work our hero threw himself into it with all 
the energy he could command. He gave as 
much time as he could spare from his business 
to a diligent study of the Bible during the week, 
and on Saturday he would mount his horse and 
go to some church to hear the pastor preach 
on 'Saturday and the Sunday following. While 
he had always been an attentive listener to the 
preacher, now he gave attention, not only to the 
subject matter of the sermon, but noted the 
method by which the thought of the text was 
unfolded and presented. On these occasions 
he would generally remain over Saturday night 
and Sunday and in the intervals between the 
services, on Saturday and the Sunday following, 
the time was largely spent in discussing sub- 
jects suggested by the teachings of the Bible, 
such as Christian experience, the qualifications 
for church membership, and the final preserva- 
tion of the Saints, and other kindred subjects. 
A custom extensively prevailing when Mr. 
Powers began to preach, and somewhat embar- 
rassing to the tyro in pulpit effort, was that he 
should visit the neighboring churches in the 
Association and preach for them occasionally, 
59 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

so that when his ordination was called for they 
would be able to take an intelligent part in the 
services when he was formally set apart to the 
work of preaching the gospel and sent forth 
with the commission of the church and approved 
of the ordaining council. 

In accordance with this custom Mr. Powers 
had visited all the churches adjacent to the 
neighborhood in which he lived except one. He 
had on one or two occasions met the pastor of 
that church, and for some cause or other, either 
real or imaginary, he was not favorably im- 
pressed with his bearing. However, it was not 
the proper thing to omit a visit to his church 
and so, with some misgivings, he summoned all 
the courage he could command and went on to 
the church. On Sunday morning the pastor 
requested the licentiate to preach, but he de- 
clined, saying he had come to hear the pastor. 
The pastor then invited him to preach in the 
afternoon to which the objection was made that 
there would be no one to hear him. The pastor 
said nothing more just then and Mr. Powers 
thought the embarrassment of preaching in that 
church would be escaped. But to his great sur- 
prise, when the pastor closed his sermon he 
announced that Bro. Powers would preach in 
the afternoon, and also repeated the conversa- 
60 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

tion that occurred just before the services 'began, 
and he made special request that every one 
present would return to the afternoon services 
and bring another person with him. They 
took heed to the request of the pastor, and when 
Mr. Powers went into the pulpit in the after- 
noon he faced an audience that taxed the 
capacity of the church building. When the 
preliminary services were over Mr. Powers an- 
nounced his text and the pastor took a seat just 
in front of him. The presence of an older min- 
ister should have been assuring to the tyro in 
the role of preacher, but in this case it was 
rather depressing. However, the young preach- 
er courageously, so to speak, took the pastor on 
his back and proceeded to deliver his sermon; 
but for quite a while the going was heavy. In 
his strenuous efforts to make headway he caught 
the eye of a noble Christian woman, whose 
countenance beamed strength and encourage- 
ment. Immediately the preacher's heart caught 
fire and his soul became surcharged with courage 
and he threw the pastor from his back and 
in a time much shorter than it takes to relate it, 
the whole congregation was under the sway of 
the preacher's power. Before the sermon had 
been quite finished, the older preacher, W. W. 
Foree, had his arms around the young man, and r 
61 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

in one sense, kept them there as long as he 
lived. He immediately invited Bro. Powers to 
assist him in a meeting he contemplated hold- 
ing soon. The invitation was accepted and the 
meeting resulted in a genuine revival of the 
church and the conversion of many souls. The 
young preacher found the older one to be a 
father in Israel, a true yoke-fellow, and one of 
the best men he ever knew. Thus was the pre- 
possession of Mr. Powers against Mr. Force 
proved to be unfounded; all that was needed to 
remove the prejudice was a more intimate 
acquaintance. 

The church in which these things occurred is 
Ballardsville, and the noble woman whose 
presence was such an inspiration to the young 
preacher was Mrs. Sarah Ellis, a kinswoman of 
Mr. Powers, and some, whose children are still 
living, numbered among the good citizens of 
Oldham County. 



VII. 

HIS ORDINATION. 

The right of the churches in the days of the 
Apostles to manage their internal affairs arose 
primarily from the fact that each congregation 
was complete in itself for all the purposes of its 
own church life. Whatever fraternal sympathy 
and fellowship it might crave, it was in itself 
the visible Church of Christ and complete for 
all the ends of a visible church. But from the 
days of the apostles, a spirit of comity and a 
disposition to fraternal intercourse have always 
existed among Baptist churches wherever found. 
And so, in accordance with the genius of the 
New Testament economy, one church is re- 
strained from taking a step that would in any 
way involve the interests of other churches. 
This denominational comity is strikingly illus- 
trated in the action of formally setting apart a 
man to the work of preaching the Gospel. When 
any given church recognizes in one of her mem- 
bers ministerial gifts, she does not, independ- 
ently of other churches, ordain him to the work 
of preaching the Gospel. She invites other 
churches to send trustworthy men — pastors and 
laymen — to sit in council with them in taking 
63 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

this important step. But however many and 
wise may be the pastors and laymen present, 
their mission is only advisory. The ordination 
is the act of the church. The custom of inviting 
other churches to send brethren to the ordaining 
council is only precautionary — to guard against 
sending out unworthy men, bearing the creden- 
tials of the churches, to preach the Gospel. In 
the early years of the last century, a request 
from one of the churches in Long Run Associa- 
tion was to the! effect that the Association 
should devise some plan which would prevent 
the ordination of unworthy men to the min- 
istry. The following is the reply to this re- 
quest: "We advise that in the ordination of 
ministers, the united consent of the church be 
gained; and we think it not improper for her 
to advise with the sister churches most conve- 
nient; and that at least three experienced men 
in the ministry be called to assist in the work, 
having due regard to the word of the Lord on 
the subject. 7 ' If this writer is correctly in- 
formed, the English Baptists attach very little 
importance to ordination and in most cases they 
dispense with it altogether. And the advice of 
Long Run Association, just quoted, seems to 
imply that it is within the province of one 
church to ordain one of its members to the min- 
64 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

istry without conferring with other churches. 
However, if there is on record a case among 
Baptist churches in America where one church, 
without conferring with other churches, as- 
sumed the responsibility of ordaining a man to 
the ministry, this writer is not advised of it. 

Mr. Powers was in his thirty-sixth year when 
his ordination was called for by Long Run 
Church in the year 1859. When the messengers 
of the churches met, there was no disposition to 
hurry through with the work of ordination. The 
members of the local church were expecting an 
all-day meeting, and accordingly prepared for 
dinner on the ground. The council was organ- 
ized by choosing a moderator and a clerk. Rev. 
E. G. Berry was chosen to preside over the con- 
ference, which was composed of fourteen 
preachers and a goodly number of laymen sent 
from the churches in the Association. Solomon 
says that ' ' in a multitude of counselors there is 
safety"; which means that the collective wisdom 
of any number of men coming together is 
greater than that of any one of them. Certainly 
in this case the conditions of safety had not 
been disregarded. Dr. S. H. Ford, then near- 
ing the zenith of his career as a brilliant writer 
and a popular pulpit orator, was the pastor of 
the church. Deacon John D. Johnson, the 
65 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

father of Col. E. Polk Johnson, who is the 
author of a popular history of Kentucky and 
a distinguished journalist, presented the candi- 
date for ordination to the council. The usual 
order in ( a council of this kind was followed. 
The candidate was requested to give a brief ac- 
count of his conversion, to tell of the influences 
leading up to the conviction that he was called 
to preach the Gospel; also to state his views of 
the inspiration of the Bible, the divinity of 
Christ and the Sovereignty of God in the matter 
of salvation. The statement of his views on 
these subjects was regarded as satisfactory. 
When the candidate was asked if he believed in 
a limited or a universal atonement, he replied 
that by the grace of God Jesus Christ tasted 
death for every man and that so far as the effi- 
cacy of his blood was concerned, it was suffi- 
cient for the salvation of a thousand worlds like 
this. However, this is not the same as. saying 
that every man will be saved. Impenitence and 
unbelief always bar a man from the blessings 
of salvation. After an adjournment for dinner 
on the ground, the council re-assembled and de- 
clared themselves satisfied with the results of 
their examination of the candidate and advised 
the church formally to ordain him to the min- 
istry ; and accordingly with prayer and the lay- 
66 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

ing on of hands, Mr. Powers was set apart by the 
church to the work of preaching the Gospel and 
administering the ordinances according to the 
views held and proclaimed by the Baptists. 

After his ordination, Mr. Powers, for six or 
eight months, continued to preach for his home 
church once a month and at other churches and 
school-houses as opportunity offered. And in 
other ways he took a deep interest in the pros- 
perity of the church of which he and his family 
were members; and his zeal, in one particular, 
manifested itself in a direction that required 
intelligence, conviction and courage. He had 
witnessed with pain that the conduct of some 
of the members of the church was a reproach 
to Christ and a stumbling block in the way of 
sinners. 

It is not believed by this writer that the 
standard of Christian character and conduct 
was higher in Baptist churches, sixty years ago, 
than it is today, though that view is held by 
some intelligent brethren. Even so far back as 
the time of Solomon, men were asking: "What 
is the cause that the former days were better 
than these?" And the answer is: "Thou dost 
not enquire wisely concerning this." Any- 
thing like an extensive knowledge of the condi- 
tion of the churches at that time will discredit 
67 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

such an opinion. If a higher standard of char- 
acter and conduct was maintained at that time 
than can be found today in the churches, it is 
a sharp rebuke to both pastors and churches 
that the standard has fallen. 

However, admitting that a just comparison 
of the conditions prevailing in the churches at 
that time with the conditions today is not un- 
favorable to our churches, yet there are some 
instances of rare courage and laudable fidelity 
to be found among our fathers that are worthy 
of emulation. It would be too much, perhaps, 
to assume that all those who took the initiatory 
action in the matter of discipline were always 
wholly detached in their motives, but in some 
instances there could be little doubt that the 
good of the church and the reclamation of the 
brother under discipline were sought. The 
writer recalls at least one case in which a father 
nearly eighty years old moved that the church 
withdraw her fellowship from his own son on 
account of unchristian conduct, and no one who 
knew his own character and elevated standard 
of conduct could for a moment doubt the purity 
of his motives. 

The detriment of the saloon to church and 
society sixty years ago was not so universally 
recognized as it is today. At that time, it was 

6'8 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

not deemed disreputable for even church, mem- 
bers to own and operate a saloon, and to dis- 
cipline ,a brother for engaging in such a busi- 
ness, was unheard of when Mr. Powers first 
began to take ,an active interest in the affairs of 
the church. In those days, it was not an infre- 
quent thing for a member of the church to get 
drunk on whiskey that was obtained from a 
saloon owned and operated by another member 
of the church. This was repeatedly the case in 
Long Run Church. At almost every business 
meeting, some brother was brought before the 
church on account of drunkenness. It was 
further remarked that every one of them got 
his whiskey from a saloon that was owned and 
conducted by a member of the church. Mean- 
time, one of the brethren was pondering and 
praying over this deplorable condition, and the 
result was that Mr. Powers at one of the Satur- 
day meetings gave notice that at the next reg- 
ular business meeting he would offer a resolu- 
tion forbidding members of the church to own 
or operate a saloon. So far as known, this was 
the first formal movement among Baptist 
churches in Kentucky to recognize and put the 
stamp of condemnation on the iniquity of the 
saloon business. The mover of the resolution 
was well aware that he was entering on new 
69 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

ground and that there was no precedent for the 
step he was taking. Many of his best friends, 
both in the church and on the outside, expressed 
deep regrets that he had moved in this direc- 
tion and they warned him that if he persisted, 
the whole affair would end in his undoing. How- 
ever, he persisted in his purpose notwithstand- 
ing their remonstrances. He had turned the 
question over in his mind again and again, and 
he was fully convinced that the step he was 
taking was a righteous one and would result in 
good, both for the present and the future of 
the church. Bear in mind that only recently 
the mover of the resolution had been ordained 
and that he had not yet been called to the care 
of any church and he himself was not assured 
of success in the ministry; but the conviction 
was strong in him that he should do the thing 
that was right, whatever be the consequences. 
And when his friends urged that the attempt 
to carry the resolution through would fail and 
kill his influence in the church and community, 
his courageous reply to this line of argument 
was that he was willing to die in a good cause. 
Such an unheard-of proceeding in the matter 
of church discipline attracted no little attention 
and was the subject of conversation in all 
circles of society for the next thirty days. The 
70 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

church at that time had on its roll of members 
two hundred names, and when the day to con- 
sider the resolution arrived, they were nearly 
all present and in addition to the members of 
the church, there was a large contingent of 
people present who were not members of any 
church. The saloon man, with his minions, was 
on hand, fully equipped for the fray and confi- 
dent of victory. Then, as now, the weapons of 
the adherents of the saloon business were de- 
traction and misrepresentation and their armory 
was full of them. Many of Mr. Powers' friends 
feared a personal assault on him, so violent was 
the abuse heaped on him and so menacing was 
the bearing of the saloon man and his followers 
toward him. And no marvel that such rancor 
was exhibited sixty years ago; such inveterate 
bitterness is still in evidence in this noon-day 
of enlightenment, when the searchlight of 
science has demonstrated beyond a peradvem 
ture the destructive power of alcohol on the 
human system, and when, moreover, the history 
of the saloon, in every grade of society, in all 
communities shows that it is an agency that de- 
bauches both the souls and the bodies of men, 
robs wives of their husbands and children of 
their fathers, wastes estates and lowers the 
standard of civic righteousness everywhere. 
71 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

However, there are not wanting apologists today 
in high places for this hydra-headed monster in 
the modern commonwealth. And, strange to tell, 
these apologies come from public journals that 
heap the most violent epithets on all those who 
are actively engaged in trying to eliminate the 
saloon from modern society, and without the 
patronage of those whom they so violenth r 
abuse, these same journals would have to go into 
liquidation within twelve months. However, 
the violent abuse and threatening attitude of 
the saloon-keeper did not provoke a correspond- 
ing bearing on the part of Mr. Powers. Indeed, 
he seemed to ignore the probability of physical 
violence toward himself, and so when the day 
arrived for the discussion of the resolution and 
when the issue was squarely before the church, 
Mr. Powers, without heat and in a straightfor- 
ward manner, presented his arguments in favor 
of the resolution and all the while he maintained 
a pleasant bearing toward his opponents. From 
his point of view, he could very well afford to 
assume this attitude because his purpose was 
not to injure men, but to show the inherent 
iniquity of the saloon and put it out of busi- 
ness. When the vote was taken and the result 
was announced, it was found that the resolu- 
tion was sustained by an overwhelming major- 
72 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Towers. 

ity — only eight votes were cast against it. The 
saloon keeper and his friends were furious when 
the result of the vote was announced, and they 
openly charged that Mr. Powers had taken an 
unfair advantage of him and mustered the 
women and children in the church to vote 
against him while his friends were not advised 
of the situation and did not come to the meeting. 
In view of so great a majority for the resolu- 
tion, Mr. Powers, with a good face, could have 
let the matter rest where it was, but when he 
was charged with unfair dealing, he determined 
to remove all grounds of complaint on that 
score, and so he gave notice immediately that he 
would move a reconsideration of the resolution 
at the next meeting, and he suggested to the 
saloon keeper that he would have time to see his 
friends and have them come to the next meet- 
ing. Thus another thirty days were given to 
the agitation of the question in the community 
and when the time came for the resolution to 
come up again, there was no falling off in the 
members present. And after the question was 
opened again and discussed pro and con till 
everybody was satisfied, the vote was taken and 
the former minority of eight votes was reduced 
to two. 

An observation or two seems to be called for. 
73 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

It is this : Whoever introduces new methods in 
church or state, however justifiable are their 
merits, he must not be surprised if they are op- 
posed by the combined forces of ignorance, of 
pride and self-interest. Whoever suggests im- 
provement, whoever shows the f aultiness and 
falseness of what has been long in vogue, must 
be prepared to pay the price of misunderstand- 
ing, opposition, calumny and ill-usage. But 
while there was no violence on the part of the 
saloonkeeper and his friends towards Mr. Powers 
yet he was a man marked and the; object of the 
most rancorous hatred of which the human heart 
is capable : and not infrequently when thus tra- 
duced, even a just man becomes embittered to- 
wards his persecutors and returns railing for 
railing in good measure. But not so did Mr. 
Powers demean himself in this embarrassing 
situation. Conscious of his own integrity of 
purpose and of harboring no ill-will toward the 
man from whom the church had withdrawn the 
hand of fellowship and remembering the treat- 
ment that was meted out to Him whose reward 
for seeking to bless men was that He was ar- 
rested as a common felon and put to death as a 
malefactor, Mr. Powers maintained a dignified 
bearing and kept in good humor, and whenever 
opportunity offered, he would bow courteously 
74 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

to the man, and if occasion justified, he would 
greet the man pleasantly, but the estranged 
brother never reciprocated, his courtesies or re- 
turned his greetings. Thus things went on for sev- 
eral months, when, on one occasion, Mr. Pow T ers 
was in the village where the man lived he 
was told that the man's son was very sick and 
thought to be very near death. So without hes- 
itation and notwithstanding the estrangement of 
the father, he determined to visit the son, and 
when admitted to the sick-room, he found the 
father keeping watch at the bedside of his son 
whose pale cheeks and glassy eyes showed that 
death would soon claim his victim. The stub- 
bornness of the father would not allow him to 
speak to his visitor, although the two men were 
in the presence of the son whose feet were even 
then slipping over the brink of the river of 
death. However, the son recognized him and the 
crisis in which he found himself, not permit- 
ting him to cherish any illusions, said, ' ' Father, 
here is Brother Powers, and I would rather see 
him than anybody in the world. He has always 
been our best friend, and if we had listened to 
him, I would not be in the condition I am now 
in. ' ' The father said nothing, nor did he in any 
way indicate his approval of what the son had 
said. Mr. Powers talked awhile with the young 
75 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

man and prayed for him, and in taking his 
leave, he said that if at any time his presence 
should be desired, they would only have to let 
him know and he would come immediately. 
That night, he visited the young man again, not 
knowing whether there had been any change in 
the feeling of the father toward him or not, but 
when he entered the room, his erstwhile enemy 
met him and said: "Brother Powers, you have 
killed me ; I have talked hard about you and yet 
I never heard of you saying a harmful word 
about me. Can you forgive me?" Mr. Powers 
hastened to say that he had never cherished any 
ill-will toward him, had always been his friend 
and he was more than willing to let by-gones be 
by-gones. The son died that night, and at the 
interment of the young man, Mr. Powers 
preached the funeral sermon and ever after- 
wards, the father was a loyal friend of the 
preacher whose good name and character he had 
so sedulously traduced; and when the father 
himself died, Mr. Powers, by special request, 
conducted the obsequies of the man who had 
once been his violent enemy. 



76 



vi ir. 

HE BECOMES A MISSIONARY. 

Mr. Powers' successful fight against the 
saloon in Long Run Church attracted extended 
notice and called forth favorable comment, and 
so he was recognized as a man who could bring 
things to pass. At the time when these things 
occurred, nearly all the churches in Shelby 
County were members of Long Run Associa- 
tion, and the Mission Board of the Association 
was located in Shelbyville, and so very soon 
after the events recorded in the preceding 
chapter, the Board, without consulting Mr. 
Powers, appointed him missionary to work 
within the bounds of the Association, and he was 
accordingly notified of his appointment. This 
was a great surprise to him, as it had not been 
a year since he was ordained, and moreover, he 
had no overweening confidence in his ability to 
accomplish very much, and he by no means 
considered himself equipped by education or ex- 
perience for so responsible a post. So with a 
becoming distrust of his own abilities, he wrote 
the Board, thanking them for the confidence in 
him they had shown by the appointment, but 
77 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

declined to accept the responsibilities of the 
work, and he suggested to the Board that the 
field required a stronger man and one better 
equipped than himself. But the Board stood by 
their appointment, and so wrote him that a man 
who had the courage to take the stand against 
the saloon that he had taken in Long Eun 
Church and also had the ability to carry on the 
fight to a successful ending, could succeed any- 
where. The result was that Mr. Powers deferred 
to the judgment of his brethren and accepted 
the appointment, though he did so with fear 
and trembling and many misgivings as to his 
qualifications to meet the demands of the situ- 
ation. In the instructions accompanying his 
appointment, he was allowed large discretion as 
to whether he should go to the weaker churches 
already established and build them up, or con- 
fine his labors to the territory in which hitherto 
no churches had been organized. He chose the 
latter alternative and accordingly went into the 
territory where there was the greater destitu- 
tion. 

Mr. Powers' first move as a missionary in 
Long Run Association was in Jefferson County, 
and in that part of Bullitt just south of Louis 
ville. If the intersection of (Seventh and Broad- 
way streets in the city be taken as a starting 
78 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

point and a straight line run twenty-one miles, 
to the junction of Salt River and Rolling Fork, 
thence to Shepherdsville and then follow the 
Louisville & Nashville Railway to Louisville, the 
line traced will enclose the territory in which 
he began his work as missionary for Long Run 
Association. In that section of the two coun- 
ties, there were only a few isolated Baptists, 
but not a regularly organized Baptist church, 
and up to this time there had been little or no 
effort on the part of Baptists to preach the 
Gospel in this region. But the saloon was in 
evidence almost everywhere. When he was 
ninety years old, Mr. Powers told the author 
that he had a vivid remembrance of counting 
twenty-one saloons on the road between Louis- 
ville and Pitt's Point at the junction of the two 
rivers named above — one for every mile of the 
distance. 

This section of the State was then, as now, a 
beautiful country, with fertile soil responding 
generously to cultivation, and there were also 
long stretches of woodland where the primeval 
forest had not been touched by the woodman's 
ax; but since that time the forests have nearly 
all been felled, and where the trees once stood 
in their original beauty and luxuriance of 
growth, are now found attractive homesteads, 
79 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

wheat fields, corn fields and truck-gardens, the 
products of which find a ready and remunera- 
tive market in the city of Louisville. Within 
this region now there are several Baptist 
churches. 

About ten miles south of Louisville, in May 
or June, 1860, he made his first stop and began 
his work as an evangelist. It was an inspiration 
to hear him more than fifty years afterwards, 
when he was ninety years old, tell how the Lord 
had anticipated him in this work and prepared 
the way. Here, he called, upon a Dr. S. A. 
Foss, who was not himself a professing Chris- 
tian, but he had discernment enough to recog- 
nize the purifying and elevating influence of the 
Christian religion, and he heartily welcomed 
the missionary to his home and became a great 
support to him in his work. Moreover, the 
Doctor's wife and his mother-in-law, Mrs. Bell, 
were devout Christians and members of the Bap- 
tist Church in the community from which they 
had removed and since they had been living in 
this neighborhood, they had been deprived of 
attending a church of their own choice and 
much of the time heard no preaching at all. 
During all these years, they had been praying 
that G-od would send them a preacher, and when 
Mr. Powers introduced himself and told them 
80 




Mary Hersman Powers, wife of Rev. W. E. Powers 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

the purpose of his coming among them, their 
faces became luminous with joy, and recognizing 
the hand of God in the coming of the mission- 
ary, they said: "Our prayers have been an- 
swered." Here was a good place to make a be- 
ginning in the cultivation of this untilled field 
and he first endeavored to find out how many 
Baptists there were in the community, and this 
led him to make a diligent canvass from house 
to house, and, all told, he found eleven Baptists 
for a possible nucleus in the organization of a 
church. But there was no meeting house in 
which to gather a congregation, and the school- 
house, though small and affording meager ac- 
accommodations for comfort, either in winter or 
summer, was the only place that seemed to 
invite an entrance. However, the missionary 
often preached in these school-houses, where 
they were crowded to the door, and if they had 
services at night, as was sometimes the case, the 
best light that could be furnished would come 
from a flickering tallow-dip ; or at best they had 
only candles made of spermaceti — popularly 
known as star candles. Often he would preach 
in private houses where a few neighbors would 
come together to hear the Gospel, and not in- 
frequently during the summer months he would 
preach to a congregation assembled under the 
81 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

trees where split-logs furnished the only accom- 
modation for seats. 

The arrangements for the first sermon in the 
neighborhood 1 were made in thiswise. The mis- 
sionary called on a Mrs. Kennedy, whose hus- 
band was a rich farmer and though a devoted 
husband and a courteous gentleman, he was not 
a member of any church. He asked Mr. Powers 
if he would preach for his wife that night. 
Certainly! He would be glad to do so, but 
didn't see how they could collect a congregation. 
The farmer said that he would see to that, and 
he called up a number of little negroes and 
sent them in every direction to notify the neigh- 
bors that there would be preaching at his house 
that night. The time was short, but quite a 
number of those living in the surrounding com- 
munity came together for the services. Doubt- 
less, many of those present came out of sheer 
curiosity, for Baptist preachers were not often 
seen and heard in that region, but whatever 1 the 
motive that prompted them, their presence gave 
the missionary an opportunity to tell theni his 
story. Mrs. Kennedy became one of the strong 
and steadfast supports of the missionary and his 
work in that community. More than fifty years 
afterwards, Mr. Powers, in taking a backward 
look over the way he had been led, told the 
82 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

author that his firm conviction was that the 
Lord had anticipated him and placed these: noble 
men and women in that community as a nucleus 
to give the work a start. Having no church, no 
Sunday School, or society of any kind as a ral- 
lying point, the only hope of doing effective 
work was for the missionary to mount his horse 
and go from house to house and preach the 
Gospel in /the homes, in school-houses, under the 
trees and wherever opportunity offered. 

Within a few days after this service in the 
Kennedy home, in going from house to house, 
Mr. Powers called on a family, the husband of 
which was not at home, and in which there was 
not one member that claimed to be a Christian. 
He was courteously received by the good woman 
of the house, but when he told her his mission 
in the neighborhood and the purpose of his com- 
ing to their house, she remarked that her hus- 
band did not like preachers and in an apolo- 
getic manner, she further remarked that she 
thought it best to tell him beforehand. That 
was a perfectly proper thing to do, said Mr. 
Powers, and in leaving, he remarked that he 
would call again within a few days. Her hus- 
band had been a steamboat captain, who had 
abandoned the river and recently bought a farm 
and moved to it. So, accordingly, not many days 
83 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

elapsed before the missionary returned and was 
told that the Captain was at work on the farm 
not very far off and his wife proposed to ring 
the bell for him to come to the house. But that 
was unnecessary, he said, as he could just as 
easily go where the Captain was at work as her 
husband could come to the house. He found 
the farmer busy, with a number of hands, clean- 
ing up ground, preparing to put in a crop. 
The Captain received the preacher with marked 
courtesy, and his whole bearing showed him to 
be a gentleman, and he discontinued his work 
and suggested that they return to the house. 
That was not necessary, however, as the call 
would be a short one, and Mr. Powers said he 
would stay there and work a while, and as 
they worked, they could talk. He remained an 
hour, more or less, occasionally making a sug- 
gestion as to the best way of doing certain work. 
These suggestions were kindly received by the 
Captain, as hitherto he had had no experience 
on the farm and the work was new to him. 
When the interview came to an end and the 
missionary said he must be going, the Captain 
said without circumlocution that he liked him 
and wished that he might come again. Having 
been a successful business man and still having 
the bartering instinct in him, Mr. Powers saw 
84 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

his opportunity and proposed that the Captain 
should visit him in turn. To this proposition 
the Captain would gladly assent, but he did not 
know where the preacher lived, nor how far he 
would have to travel to reach his home. To this, 
Mr. Powers replied that he did not mean a visit 
at his residence as that was thirty miles dis- 
tant, but that he would preach at the neighbor- 
hood school-house on Sunday morning and he 
would be glad to have the Captain present. 
There was ready assent given to this proposition 
by the Captain on the condition that the 
preacher would come home with him to dinner 
on Sunday. The first man the missionary met 
at the school-house on Sunday morning was the 
Captain, and after preaching, he went home 
with him. Within three or four years from that 
time, the Captain and all his family were con- 
verted, and Mr. Powers had the privilege of 
baptizing them. Mr. Powers, first and last, had 
large and glorious experience in revival work 
and witnessed the conversion of many souls, but 
in none of them was there manifest evidence of 
a more thorough and genuine conversion than 
that of George Everhart, the former steamboat 
captain, the details of which we shall learn more 
about further on, 

Mr. Powers spent the greater part of May 
85 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

and June on this field where he first began his 
work, preaching in private houses, in school 
bouses, under the trees, and whenever he could 
get a few of the people together. He made 
arrangements to hold a meeting of days, "in 
July, near where Beechland Church now stands. 
Being the missionary of Long Run Association, 
and working in a field not far from Louisville, 
the pastors in the city had assured him of assist- 
ance when the time came to hold a protracted 
meeting. But when they were called on to help 
him and comply with their promise, with one 
consent they began to make excuses. The mis- 
sionary was sorely troubled, but all the condi- 
tions seemed to indicate that the meeting should 
not be deferred. So he took his troubles to the 
Lord and asked Him to send help or qualify 
his servant for the work. 

Saturday, July 22, 1860, was the time ap- 
pointed for the morning to begin, and that 
morning when Mr. Powers started to the: place 
agreed upon to hold it he had received no assur- 
ance of ministerial help. But on he went be- 
lieving that the Lord, in His own way, would 
provide, either by sending an evangelist, or by 
qualifying the missionary for the work. Arriv- 
ing at the place of preaching he was introduced 
to Elder John H. Spencer, not so well known to 
86 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

the Baptist. Brotherhood in Kentucky at that 
time as he was afterwards. At that time Mr. 
Powers had never seen Mr. Spencer, nor in fact 
had he ever heard of him. And while it did 
not occur to the missionary at the first that the 
Lord had sent Mr. Spencer in answ T er to his 
prayer, yet by his facility of expression and the 
skill with which he handled the Scriptures, the 
missionary was soon convinced that the visiting 
brother was the Lord's man, and had been sent 
there by divine guidance to preach in that meet- 
ing. The meeting was continued for two weeks 
and the results of it only strengthened the 
opinion already formed, and, looking back to 
this time from a distance of more than fifty 
years, Mr. Powers could see no reason for chang- 
ing or modifying the opinion first formed. 

But the Lord uses human agencies, and He 
lays hold on men in every station of life and 
all grades of character to accomplish his pur- 
poses; and frequently those whom God chooses 
to accomplish His will, serve Him without know- 
ing it. This was certainly true in the Lord's 
choice of Cyrus to effect the deliverance of the 
Jews from Babylonian bondage, and prepare 
the way for them to rebuild Jerusalem. But 
we should not confound the high destiny of this 
heathen monarch with his personal character. 
87 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Even when God, by the month of Isaiah, says 
of Cyras, "He is my shepherd to perform 
all 'my pleasure." "My anointed one whose 
right-hand I have holden to subdue nations be- 
fore him," he adds, "I have surnamed thee 
though thou hast not known me." The raising 
up of Cyrus and the sending of him to Babylon 
was in answer to the prayers of the Jews for 
deliverance and restoration to their fatherland. 
And none the less does the Lord use his own 
people to set forward the work of evangeliza- 
tion. While He was preparing the heart of the 
Centurion at Cesarea to receive the gospel mes- 
sage, He was also preparing Simon Peter, at 
Joppa, to go and deliver it. The small group 
of Christian people in the community where Mr. 
Powers was at work were specially exercised 
about the contemplated meeting, and were pray- 
ing that the Lord would send help. Not a great 
while before the time of which the author writes 
a young lady in this neighborhood had visited 
a family in Cloverport, Ky., where Mr. Spencer 
was pastor of the Baptist church. The people 
in whose home she was a transient guest were 
attendants on the services at the Baptist church, 
and it was in the! nature of things that she: should 
meet the pastor of the church, who has some- 
thing over thirty years old and still unmarried. 
88 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

During her visit in Cloverport this young lady 
and the Baptist pastor frequently met in the 
social circles, and he called on her at different 
times in the home where she was stopping. 
When the time arrived for her to return to her 
home in Jefferson County, there was manifestly 
a growing fondness of the bachelor pastor and 
the fair visitor for each other's society. So at 
their parting he expressed a wish that at some 
time he might be able to visit her neighborhood 
and get acquainted with the Baptists in that 
region. This is the version which the young 
lady puts on what was said when they parted 
at Cloverport. The story which the bachelor 
preacher tells of the occasion is slightly differ- 
ent, though not contradictory. It may be 
assumed, however, that she was nothing loath 
to have him come to the neighborhood where she 
lived whatever the pretext that prompted his 
coming. So she wrote Mr. Spencer, reminding 
him that on one occasion he had expressed a 
wish that at some time he might be able to 
visit Jefferson County and get acquainted with 
the Baptists in the neighborhood where she 
lived. She told him about the missionary who 
was at work there, and advised him of the time 
when the meeting would begin, and gave him 
an urgent invitation to come. 
89 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

The meeting resulted in the conversion of 
sixteen souls, one of which was the young lady 
mentioned above. A further result of the meet- 
ing was the organization of the Beechland Bap- 
tist Church. Eleven of the Baptists living in 
that neighborhood, remote from church privi- 
leges, went into the organization. After the 
organization of the church was effected, they 
received into its fellowship, on profession of 
faith in Christ and by baptism, the sixteen 
recent converts. This was the first Baptist 
church organized in that part of Jefferson 
County; it was also the first visible fruits of 
Mr. Powers' ministry, and in his old age he 
would speak of the church as his first love. It 
was always the subject of his prayers and his 
affection for it and his solicitude for its well- 
being were like that of a father concerning a 
well-beloved son. 



yo 



IX. 
DAN CUPID TAKES A HAND. 

About the year 1887, Dr. W. H. Whitsitt 
wrote to Dr. J. H. Spencer, suggesting that the 
latter put on record some of the salient events 
of his life and work. Dr. Spencer acted on the 
suggestion and immediately began to write the 
story of his own life. The record extends from 
the time of his birth, in the year 1826, to the 
year 1875. So we have an incomplete history — 
nothing recorded of the last twenty years of his 
life. 

Through the courtesy of Mrs. Berrilla B. 
Spencer, who survived her distinguished hus- 
band till November, 1915, the author of this 
biography was permitted to read the manuscript 
of Dr. Spencer's life. This is a privilege he 
greatly appreciates, and he is glad of another 
opportunity to put on record an expression of 
his thanks for the courtesy accorded him. 

Without going into details as to the value 
of this manuscript, the writer would like to re- 
cord his pleasure in knowing that it is now in 
safe-keeping, and can be seen by any one who 
wishes to consult it. The writer of this biogra- 
phy has found in it some very important data 
91 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

which, he could not find anywhere e l se > arL( i his 
indebtedness to the manuscript will appear as 
the story progresses. A somewhat detailed 
account of the circumstances that led to the first 
meeting between Mr. Powers and Mr. Spencer 
has already been given. The data of that record 
were furnished by Mr. Powers. In the manu- 
script is found Dr. Spencer's version of their 
first meeting. It will be noted that the two 
records, the one given by Mr. Powers and the 
one given by Dr. Spencer, are somewhat dif- 
ferent, but in nowise contradictory. For the 
month of July, I860, Dr. Spencer records an 
account of his activities as follows: 

"About this time a little circumstance 
occurred which led to a change of my field of 
labor and had an important bearing on my sub- 
sequent life. During the preceding summer, 
Miss Alice Everhart, daughter of Captain G. 
W. Everhart, of Jefferson County, Ky., visited 
her friend, Miss Mary Lightfoot, at Cloverport. 
While remaining there several weeks, she at- 
tended my preaching appointments. I also 
formed her acquaintance, met her several times 
in the social circle, and had frequent talks with 
her on the subject of religion; she being then 
unconverted. Just before I returned from 
Illinois, in writing to her friend, Miss Light- 
92 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

foot, she stated that Mr. Powers expected to 
hold a protracted meeting in her father's 
neighborhood in July, and expressed a wish 
that I could be there to assist him. Miss Light- 
foot mentioned the fact to me, and, as I had 
some inclination to visit Miss Everhart at her 
father's home, I resolved to go to the aid of 
Bro. Powers, of whom I had never heard before. 
I went on a boat Which carried me some three 
miles above Captain Everhart 's landing — at 
which I had directed the clerk to have me 
landed — and put me off about XI o'clock at 
night. I tried to get shelter at a house near 
where the boat put me ashore, but I could not 
obtain admittance. I then walked about three 
miles, with a carpet-bag, the only baggage I 
carried with me, in my hand. When I came to 
a house answering to a description I had gotten 
of Captain Everhart 's residence, I again ap- 
plied for shelter about midnight. I suppose I 
presented to the hospitable Captain the appear- 
ance of what would now be called, "a regular 
tramp," and he hesitated about admitting me 
into his house. However, after catechising me 
for some time, he invited me in. 

Next morning, which was Saturday, July 22 r 
1860, I met Brother W. E. Powers at the place 
of his appoinmtnet. He invited me to preach, 
93 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

in a manner which gave me the impression that 
he did not wish me to accept the invitation, so 
I declined. However, I preached that night 
and was immediately admitted to Christian fel- 
lowship and confidence. Brother Powers had 
been ordained to the ministry the preceding No- 
vember, had subsequently been appointed mis- 
sionary within the bounds of Long Run Asso- 
ciation, and was on the thirdl visit to this part 
of his field. We held our meeting in a small 
house owned by the Oampbellites located on the 
Salt River Pike, twelve miles southwest from 
Louisville, and at the houses of the people in 
the neighborhood. There were a few Baptists 
living in the neighborhood, and on the 26th of 
July we constituted a church of about eleven 
members, to which we gave the name of Beech- 
land. We continued the meeting till the 2nd of 
August, and fourteen were received by experi- 
ence and baptism. Among those baptized was 
my young lady friend, Miss Alice Everhart. 

One result of Mr. Spencer's visit to his 
friend, Miss Everhart, and his acquaintance 
with Mr. Powers, was that he became mission- 
ary in Nelson Association, and his efforts were 
directed mostly to the building up of churches 
already organized. He began his work in the 
latter part of the year 1860. However, in the 
94 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

following March, he was again engaged with 
Brother Powers in a meeting at Beechland. 
Doubtless, Mr. Spencer was nothing loath to 
return to this neighborhood from which his feet 
had wandered, but not his heart. The progress 
of this love-story is best told in the chaste, sub- 
dued language of the hero himself, who thus 
sets it forth in the following narrative : 

"At the close of the meeting at Beechland, I 
gave attention to another matter which I had 
been seriously considering for some months. I 
was now in the thirty-fifth year of my age, had 
been actively engaged in preaching more than 
four years, and had come to the conclusion that 
I was sufficiently established in my calling to 
justify me in marrying. Accordingly, I went 
to see Miss Alice Everhart, laid my purposes 
and plans before her and asked her to partici- 
pate with me in my life-work. She agreed to 
consider the matter, and I immediately mounted 
my borrowed horse and returned to my mission 
field." 

The excitement incident to the impending war 
between the States made Mr. Spencer's work 
as missionary in Xelson Association compara- 
tively unfruitful, but his suit for the hand of 
Miss Everhart had been crowned with success, 
and the time for the consummation of the mar- 
95 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

riage bonds was set for September 15, 1861. 
Immediately preceding this happy event, he at- 
tended Sulphur Fork Association at Hillsboro 
in Henry County, and his departure from the 
Association is thus set down by the bridegroom 
elect : 

"On "Wednesday I was compelled to leave in 
order to meet Captain Everhart at the clerk's 
office in Louisville for the purpose of securing 
my marriage license on Thursday. The Captain 
was a steamboat man and thought it unfortunate 
to transact important business on Friday. On 
Saturday, I went to Knob Creek in Bullitt 
County and preached to the little church I had 
aided in constituting the year before. That 
night, I stayed at old Mr. ¥m. Kennedy 's, near 
Beechland church,. Next morning, I rose early, 
rode three miles to Captain Everhart 's and was 
married to Miss Alice Everhart by Rev. W. E. 
Powers before breakfast. This was on Sunday 
morning, September 15, 1861. When we arose 
from the breakfast table, I walked with my bride 
into the parlor, and without sitting down, said 
to her 'Now, my darling, you are all of this 
world to me ; but my duty to the cause of Christ 
is all of the next world.' I then printed my first 
kiss on her lips, bade her adieu and hurried 
away to my appointment." 
96 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

In October, 1862, Mr. Spencer became pastor 
of the Baptist church in Henderson, Ky., but 
owing to the division of sentiment, both in the 
church and outside it, concerning the war then 
going on between the States, his work was 
seemingly a failure. During his pastorate at 
Henderson, he had done very little evangelistic 
work, but in September, 1863, we find him again 
assisting Mr. Powers in a meeting at Beechland. 
Concerning this meeting and the remarkable 
conversion of his father-in-law, Captain Ever- 
hart, whom we first met a few pages back, Dr. 
Spencer makes the following record: 

"In September, my wife and I went up to 
Jefferson County to attend a meeting at Beech- 
land. We had both gotten the impression that 
if her father passed through that meeting with- 
out being converted, he would probably never 
be converted at all. He had been a steamboat 
man from his youth, and was a profane swearer 
and a skeptic. With the hope of leading him to 
Christ, I had studied his character and habit 
of thought as minutely as I could. The meeting 
had been in progress several days when we 
reached Beechland. Captain Everhart was at- 
tending with his family and entertaining the' 
preachers with cheerful politeness. I knew he 
was a man of great candor and honesty, and that 
97 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

if I could present an argument in favor of the 
divinity of Christ, that he could not refute, he 
would accept it. I preached three nights in suc- 
cession from Isaiah's prophecies concerning the 
Messiah. I was greatly interested. My wife 
was wrestling with Cod in prayer. I think the 
Lord helped me. The Captain got the idea that 
I was preaching especially for his benefit, and, 
therefore, he gave the more earnest heed to the 
message. The Lord opened his heart, and he 
was overwhelmed with the conviction of sin. 
About twelve o'clock of the night on which I 
had preached the third sermon, he sent for me 
to come to his bed-room. I found him shrieking 
in the most fearful agony of remorse. After 
calming him as well as I could, I sat down by 
him and presented the plan of salvation as 
clearly as I could. When I had finished, he 
said: 'I have understood that from your 
preaching, but I cannot feel it. ' We then knelt 
down and besought the Lord to enable him to 
believe. Next morning, we found him rejoicing 
in the love of God, and when we met together at 
the sanctuary, he united with the children of the 
King. It was a day of great rejoicing, not only 
with his family, but also with the whole 
church/' 

Dr. Spencer was an outstanding figure 
98 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

among Kentucky Baptists for nearly forty 
years. He was specifically an evangelist, from 
the beginning of his ministry till within a short 
time of his death in December, 1897. In fact, 
he was never pastor of but two churches, Clover- 
port and Henderson, neither pastorate lasted 
as long as three years. His methods of evangel- 
izing were so sane and so permeated with Bible 
teaching, and his recognition of the sovereignty 
of God in the matter of salvation was so promi- 
nent a feature in all his preaching, that it is a 
matter of igratitude that he has left on record, in 
singularly felicitous language, an account of his 
own conversion. The intrinsic worth of the rec- 
ord, coupled with the fact that Dr. Spencer was 
intimately associated with Mr. Powers in many 
revival meetings for more than thirty years, 
justifies an insertion of the record in this biog- 
raphy. 

In his autobiography, Dr. Spencer relates 
that from childhood he was of a serious turn of 
mind and that the subject of religion was often 
a matter of thoughtful consideration. His 
parents, too, were religiously inclined and exem- 
plary in their conduct, yet there was no direct 
effort on their part to bring about his salvation, 
nor was there any effort on the part of the 
preachers that he knew to bring about the sal- 
99 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

vation of children or even of youths. And while 
he was expecting and hoping to be a Christian 
at some time, yet he was in his twenty-third 
year when he was converted. The crisis in his 
religious experience occurred during a pro- 
tracted meeting which he attended in January, 
1849. From the very first, he attended the 
meeting with serious intention, hoping that he 
would be converted. After giving an account of 
the meeting for several days, the record of his 
experience runs thus : 

"I do not know how many days and nights 
I continued to occupy the -seat of prayer — per- 
haps about a week. An attempt to analyze my 
thoughts and feelings during that period would 
prove a failure. I was deeply humbled in my 
feelings. I had thought I understood the plan 
of salvation as well as the preachers I was ac- 
customed to hear. But I felt now that I was 
utterly ignorant about it. My prominent feeling 
was an intense desire to be converted. I do not 
think I was terrified by the fear of going to hell, 
or greatly prompted by a desire to go to heaven. 
I did not think about joining the church. I 
wanted to be a Christian, to know that I had 
been born again, as I had never desired any 
thing before. This was the one thing I looked 
for, hoped for and prayed for incessantly. I 
100 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

entertained the impression that if I should be 
born again, I should know that fact with un- 
doubted certainty. At one time, I entertained 
the thought if I should be converted, I would 
keep it a secret ; for I had not yet recognized the 
obligation of Christians to unite with the 
church, but supposed that to be a mere privilege 
of such of them as desired to do so, and I had 
no thought I should ever be qualified to dis- 
charge the solemn duties and responsibilities of 
a church member. 

"As the days passed on, my perplexity of 
mind and distress constantly increased. When 
I first went forward for prayer, I had no 
thought but that I would be converted during 
the meeting. Now I began to fear greatly that 
I should not. I was overwhelmed with distress 
and almost in utter despair. It was near the 
close of the services on Friday night, and the 
meeting was to close on Sunday morning, when 
a new question came into my mind, 'What shall 
I do if the meeting closes and leaves me uncon- 
verted? Shall I continue to seek? or shall I go 
back to my former course of life?' I hesitated 
but a moment and then mentally answered: 'I 
will seek salvation till the last moment of my 
life or attain it.' I had, I thought, confessed 
my sins and prayed and sought the prayers of 
101 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Christians; I had tried to repent and sorrowed 
-that I could not repent more deeply. I felt that 
I had done nothing rightly and that I could do 
nothing more. Despairing of doing anything 
meritoriously, I yielded myself wholly to God's 
mercy. All the powers of my mind seemed to 
he suspended and, for a time, I was unconscious 
of thought or feeling. Whether this continued 
for a moment, or for several minutes,I have 
never known. I only know that it was a com- 
plete surrender of my whole mental and moral 
being as unto death. 

"When consciousness returned, all the men- 
tal confusion and every feeling of anxiety and 
distress of soul that I had endured for many 
days and nights were gone. A calm, restful 
peace filled my bosom and for a moment I felt 
no want, no desire. The congregation were 
singing the old hymn, beginning 'Come, thou 
fount of every blessing' to the tune Olney. The 
feeling of peace that filled my soul kindled 
into active joy. I felt a strong inclination to 
join in the singing, but restrained myself. The 
log meeting house was lighted with a half-dozen 
sputtering tallow candles. Yet when I looked 
up, the mil-dewed walls seemed to glow with a 
soft effulgence, such as I had never seen. Every- 
thing in the house, the people, the rude seats 
102 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

and the unpainted pulpit seemed resplendent 
with a joyous radiance. As I walked to the 
door after dismission, I felt a strange lightness 
■as if I barely touched the floor. Hitherto, I had 
had a strong tendency to rationalism. I inquired 
into the reason of all phenomena that came 
under my observation. I was not willing to be- 
lieve anything I could not give a satisfactory 
reason for. But now I was thrilled with a series 
of strange, joyous experiences for which I could 
give no reason whatever. Nor have I ever been 
able to give any rational explanation of the phe- 
nomena until this day. It had not entered into 
my mind that there was anything supernatural 
in it. I had been hoping, praying and expect- 
ing to be converted in soul by the Holy Spirit, 
and had expected unmistakable evidences of 
such conversion. But so different were my 
present feelings and the accompanying appear- 
ances from the expected evidences, that they 
did not even suggest to my mind that I had 
been 'born of the Spirit/ I believe I yielded to 
the quiet, heavenly rapture of soul, for the time, 
without making effort to think. But during the 
forty years that have intervened between that 
happy hour and the present, I have given the 
subject the most earnest and patient investiga- 
tion of which I have been capable, and have 
103 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

been able to arrive at no satisfactory conclusion 
except that it was the Spirit of God working in 
me that mysterious change which, all men must 
undergo before they can 'see the kingdom of 
heaven. ' 

"When I walked out under the broad, open 
heavens, that cold January night, the world 
seemed to have been transformed since I had en- 
tered the little, rude meeting house some two 
hours before. The sky appeared to have ap- 
proached nearer the earth, and the stars seemed 
to have increased their brilliancy many- fold. 
The great leafless trees had relaxed the stern- 
ness of their mien as if they were softened into 
sympathy with my giad heart and all the great, 
wide forest had dispensed with its sullen gloom 
and seemed to smile with the gentle radiance of 
love. I chose to ride alone that night, and si- 
lently enjoy the new and strange gladness that 
filled my soul utterly full. I cannot remember 
that my thought took definite form in my mind 
till I had ridden through the unbroken forest 
about three miles. Then suddenly and for the 
first time, came to me the question, ' Can this be 
religion ? ' I cannot say that I have ever settled 
that momentous query to my entire satisfaction 
to this hour. But at that moment, it filled me 
with a joyous hope which has never forsaken 
104 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

me. The question had scarcely taken definite 
shape in my mind when I involuntarily ex- 
claimed : 'I will praise God as long as I live'." 



105 



X. 

PASTOR-EVANGELIST. 

When the war-cloud burst on the country in 
the spring of 1861, missionary operations were 
interrupted, in Long Run Association, but Mr. 
Powers continued to preach once a month to 
each of the two churches, Beechland and Knob 
Creek, both of which were the early sheaves of 
his ministry. Some time in the year 1861, he 
resigned the care of Knob Creek and took 
charge of Mt. Washington in Bullitt County. At 
this time, he was also pastor of Jefferson town 
Church and stated supply for Long Run. At 
the end of the year 1867, he resigned the care 
of Mt. Washington and Jeff ersont own Churches 
to give an additional Sunday to Beechland and 
take charge of Sligo Church in Henry County. 
The pastorate at Beechland was continued to 
the end of the twenty-second year when he re- 
signed to accept the pastorate of King's Church. 
During these twenty-two years, the pastor had 
ridden thirty miles, each way, in going and com- 
ing, in heat or cold, rain or shine, part of the 
time twice in the month, to serve the church. 
The prosperity of the church, increase in mem- 
bership and growth in wealth seemed to justify 
107 



The Life of Rev. 'Walter Ellis Powers. 

all-time service, and so living at a great distance 
from the church and not willing to give up Long 
Run, of which he had been pastor since 1862, 
Mr. Powers tendered his resignation, and the 
church called one of the students from the Sem- 
inary in Louisville. But, for some cause or 
other, the growth of the church was not so 
marked during the next twenty years as it had 
been during the first twenty. 

It is probable that no two preachers in Ken- 
tucky were more often together in evangelistic 
work than Mr. Powers and Dr. Spencer. They 
were admirably adapted to each other for the 
work of winning souls to Christ. Dr. Spencer 
was pre-eminently logical in his method of 
preaching and had wonderful ability in over- 
coming any intellectual difficulties in the way 
of unbelievers and he rarely failed to convince 
the judgment of those who would give him a 
patient hearing. Moreover, he was loyal to the 
Scriptures and advanced no proposition that 
could not be sustained by them. He believed 
that the Bible is the Word of God, that without 
Christ men are lost, that Christ Jesus came into 
the world to save sinners, and that whosoever 
believes in Him shall be saved. He was, first 
and last, a doctrinal preacher and he had a way 
of preaching that compelled men to think, and 
108 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

God honored the word and made the message 
effective to the conversion of many souls. He 
believed that the doctrines held and propagated 
by the Baptists were abundantly sustained by 
the Scriptures, and any deviation from them 
called forth a courteous, though decided, pro- 
test, whether the departure from truth ema- 
nated from a humble country pastor, or one oc- 
cupying a metropolitan pulpit, or a professor in 
one of our schools. He was, in very truth, a 
watchman on the walls of Zion. And very few 
of our Baptist people know what a prodigious 
amount of labor Dr. Spencer performed in 
gathering the material for his history of Ken- 
tucky Baptists. From Ashland, he traveled 
along the line between Virginia and Kentucky 
through to Tennessee, thence along the line be- 
tween Kentucky and Tennessee through the 
mountains, rescuing from oblivion any fragment 
of church records that would throw light on the 
history of our denomination. The history of 
Kentucky Baptists is a monument to his indus- 
try and discrimination in sifting the records of 
our churches. 

Mr. Powers was himself a very effective 

preacher, as his successful career, as pastor and 

evangelist, abundantly shows, and he was no 

mean judge of preaching in others, and in con- 

109 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

versation with the writer, more than once, he 
expressed the opinion that Dr. Spencer was one 
of three or four of the best preachers he ever 
heard. Soon after the organization of Beechland 
Church, Mr. Spencer brought his membership 
to this young fraternity and there it remained as 
long as Mr. Powers was pastor. Mr. Spencer 
was married twice in this neighborhood. His 
first wife was Miss Alice Everhart, daughter of 
Captain G. W. Everhart, the steamboat man, 
mention of whom has been made in a previous 
chapter. His second wife was Miss Burrilla 
Waller, who survived her distinguished husband 
till November 25, 1915. Mr. Powers baptized 
both these noble women and performed the cer- 
emony on each occasion when Mr. Spencer was 
married. 

After the meeting closed at Beechland, in 
August, 1860, and the church was effectively 
organized to the end of keeping house for the 
Lord, Mr. Powers and Mr. Spencer went to 
Knob Creek in Bullitt County, where the mis- 
sionary had done an appreciable amount of 
work in preaching and calling from house to 
house. The situation there was something like 
what it wa,s at Beechland — there was no organ- 
ization. There was, however, a house in which 
the Baptists owned a half interest. The other 

110 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

half interest was owned by the Methodists, who 
had a small church and used the house for wor- 
ship once a month. Mr. Powers regarded this 
arrangement as a handicap to the Baptists and 
he thought it was only a little better than having 
no house, and an experience and observation of 
more than fifty years in the ministry did not 
change his mind on the subject. It is a well- 
known fact that two families can rarely, if ever, 
live in the same house on equal terms without 
misunderstandings that frequently result in the 
estrangement of persons who would otherwise 
live on terms of amity and friendship. And in 
this matter of joint occupancy of the same meet- 
ing house, churches have not been more success- 
ful than families. 

Mr. Powers' work in this neighborhood, short 
though the time was, had already borne fruit. 
The first conversion under his ministry at Knob 
Creek was that of a young lady about sixteen 
years old, whose father was a Baptist. The man's 
name was Buford Lewis, and by his special re- 
quest, one Sunday morning, Mr. Powers set 
forth some of the distinctive doctrinal views of 
the Baptists. He dwelt at some length on the 
necessary qualifications for church membership ; 
that only those who give a credible evidence of 
conversion and are baptized according to the 
ill 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

teachings of Christ and the apostles are fit sub- 
jects for membership in a New Testament 
Church. At the close of the sermon, according 
to the custom of Baptist preachers, he stated 
that if there were those present who wished to 
confess their faith in Christ and relate their 
Christian experience and be baptized, he would 
baptize them. In response to the invitation, 
Miss Clara Lewis came forward and related 
her experience and gave very satisfactory evi- 
dence of her conversion. Her father was the 
only Baptist in the house except the preacher, 
who asked her father what he should do; and 
he said, "Baptize her." Accordingly, the mis- 
sionary baptized her. 

Mr. Spencer came the next day and the meet- 
ing was continued for two weeks and at the 
close of the series of meetings, the church was 
organized, composed of those who were con- 
verted and baptized during the meeting and 
those previously baptized and residing in the 
community. Mr. Powers preached for Knob 
Creek Church as long as he labored as mission- 
ary for the Association and a year afterwards-. 
His labors were abundantly blessed and yet the 
pastor always felt that the church was handi- 
capped by the joint occupancy of the house with 
the Methodists. However desirous a preacher 

112 



The Life- of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

may be to preach a full Gospel on all occasions, 
lie will very often feel embarrassed lest he 
should give offense to those who have just as 
much right in the house as he has. While the 
two churches, Beechland and Knob Creek, were 
the first visible fruits of Mr. Powers' labors as 
a missionary, and although he continued to 
preach to them, yet during this time, his activ- 
ities extended to other churches with which he 
held meetings that resulted in many conver- 
sions. The visible results of a little more than 
a year's work were 365 additions to the churches 
on profession of faith in Christ and by bap- 
tism : not a bad showing for a man who had not 
been ordained two years. Dr. S. H. Ford was 
pastor of Long Run Church at the beginning 
of the year 1861, but when the surcharged po- 
litical atmosphere exploded in the attack on 
Fort Sumter, he resigned and went South and 
cast in his lot with the fortunes of the Confed- 
erate States. After his departure, Mr. Powers 
supplied the church until 1862, when he was 
regularly called to the pastoral care of the 
church, a position which he held for the next 
thirty years. Two things seem to be in doubt 
concerning Long Run Church. No one knows 
just when it was organized, and there is no re- 
liable record as to who was its first pastor. Ac- 
113 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

cording to the best authorities, it was organized 
in the year 1797, and the most- reliable traditions 
are that Jolm Penny was the first pastor. In 
the year 1797, it united with Salem Association, 
of which it remained a member till 1803, when 
it, with other churches, entered into the organi- 
zation of Long Run Association. Long Run 
Church, first and last, has sent out five colonies 
that went into the organization of other 
churches. The last colony, sent out by this old 
fraternity, went into the organization of the 
Pewee Valley Church, now called Crestwood. 
This daughter of Long Run is now a vigorous 
and efficient organization, of which Dr. J. M. 
Walker was pastor for more than ten years, 
beginning December, 1905. The present pastor 
is Dr. H. C. Wayman, who began his work very 
auspiciously, September 1, 1916. 

When Mr. Powers began to preach at Long 
Run, it numbered 213 members, a large contin- 
gent of which was colored people, and when 
the war closed, they were granted letters to or- 
ganize a colored church. However, under the 
pastoral care of Mr. Powers, the old fraternity 
prospered again, and before it sent out the col- 
ony to organize Pewee Valley Church, it num- 
bered 230 members. 

Mr. Powers' longest and most successful pas- 
114 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

torates were with Long Run, organized in the 
year 1797 ; King's, in 1800 ; Sligo, in 1812. This 
latter church at first was called Patton's Creek; 
in 1840 it took the name of Pleasant Ridge and 
in the year 1853 it assumed the name of Sligo, 
from a small village near which it is located. 
Beechland was Ms first love and with it he re- 
mained more than twenty years and his minis- 
tration to that fraternity was abundantly 
blessed. 

But, notwithstanding the fact that during 
these years he was pastor of churches, separated 
many miles from each others, yet Mr. Powers 
found time to do a prodigious amount of strictly 
pastoral work in the w T ay of calling from house 
to house, visiting the sick, attending funerals 
and comforting the bereaved. However, his en- 
ergies were not all expended on the churches of 
which he was pastor. He continued to hold 
meetings with the churches when his services 
were desired — and his services were often sought 
by the churches. In his evangelistic work, his 
efforts were not determined by a monetary con- 
sideration. Whenever his services were wanted, 
lie would go to the assistance of a pastor with- 
out any stipulated sum. When his work was 
done, he would take whatever the churches saw 
fit to give him in the way of financial remuner- 
115 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

ation, and forthwith enter the next open door 
where there was work to be done for the Master. 
This custom largely prevails among our pastors 
in all sections of the commonwealth; but the 
author has known some exceptions. In one case 
at least., and not a great while ago, a brother re^ 
quested a pastor in the Association in which they 
were both pastors, to assist him in a meeting. 
The invitation was accepted, and the inviting 
brother thought the matter was settledi, but be- 
fore the time arrived when the meeting was to 
begin, he received a note! from the brother who 
was to assist him, inquiring as to the amount of 
compensation he was to receive for his services 
and closed his inquiry by stating that he was no 
thirty-cent preacher and could not afford to 
come for less than a guarantee of $75. 

Evangelistic work was a perennial joy to Mr. 
Powers. It was a delight to have other pastors 
assist him in meetings with his own churches. 
And to assist other pastors was as great a joy 
as to have them with him. This interchange of 
work was not confined to the stronger churches 
and more gifted and successful pastors. He 
would gladly assist a pastor whose ability and 
work had not made him a conspicuous figure in 
the denomination. And his bearing toward 
young ministers was worthy of all praise. Not 
116 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

infrequently he would lay hands on some young 
preacher who had not yet had an opportunity 
to do effective work and take him to one of his 
own churches to assist him in a meeting. 

When the General Association met with the 
Twenty-second and Walnut Street Church, in 
Louisville, in the year of 1908, Mr. Powers was 
a guest in the home of Rev. C. K. Hoagland, 
then a student in the Seminar*}', and while 
prosecuting his studies he was preaching to a 
church in the country. While in this home Mr. 
Hoagland and his wife studiously tried to antic- 
ipate the wants of their venerable guest and 
in every way provide for him. And it is no 
marvel to those who know Mr. Powers to learn 
that when he left that home the hosts were 
glad to recognize the magnificent personal- 
ity of the man who had been tempora- 
rily stopping with them. A few months after 
this first acquaintance between Mr. Powers and 
the Hoaglands, he called to see his hosts as if 
to make them a friendly visit; but within a 
short time the real purpose of the call was made 
known. Mr. Powers was soon to engage in a 
protracted meeting and he had come to request 
his former host to assist him. This was a great 
surprise to Mr. Hoagland and at first he 
declined to go because of his want of experience 

117 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

and distrust of his ability to meet the demands 
of the situation. However, when it dawned on 
him that this venerable servant of God was not 
seeking a great preacher to do his work for 
him, but offering an opportunity for a strug- 
gling young man to gain a footing in the work 
to which he had consecrated his life, all the dis- 
inclination gave way and he accepted the invi- 
tation. The meeting lasted only eight days, and 
yet there were twenty-three additions to the 
church and nineteen of them were received on 
profession of faith in Christ and by baptism. 
The very fact of his association with Mr. Powers 
in a meeting and the marked success of the 
same gave Mr. Hoagland a standing among his 
brethren that would otherwise have been slower 
in coming. 

A good many years ago a young preacher 
came from Arkansas to Bethel College to prose- 
cute his studies, and at the end of the session he 
found himself without money — most young 
preachers have had the same experience. But 
in order to earn an honest penny he became a 
book-agent — a job that is nearly always alluring 
in the prospect, and, in the majority of cases, 
disappointing in the retrospect. This young 
man started out with bright anticipations, but 
he soon learned that those to whom he offered 
118 



The Life of Rev. W 'alter Ellis Powers. 

his wares for a consideration did not place the 
estimate on knowledge and culture that lie had 
been led to expect. In the course of a few 
weeks, in his efforts to sell the book, he found 
himself in the home of Mr. Powers, with thirty 
of the books still on hand. He was becoming: 
discouraged and hardly knew which way to 
turn. After stopping over night with Mr. 
Powers the host incidentally asked him how 
many books he still had, and what was the price. 
There were thirty, and the price of each was a 
dollar. "I'll take them all at the price named," 
said the genial host. Did he hear right? Yes. 
that was what he said, and that was what he 
meant. But, said Mr. Powers, you will go with 
me to Beechland and preach for me. After the 
young man preached, Mr. Powers made a state- 
ment of the situation and very soon every book 
was disposed of at the regular price. The name 
of this young man was W. A. Forbes, who 
became a very successful preacher. 

Rev. J. S. Wilson, now at Mt. Sterling, and 
one of the successful pastors in the common- 
wealth, pays this tribute to the force of char- 
acter and inherent worth of our hero : "A num- 
ber of years ago, when I was but a boy in the 
ministry, he came to my home to ask me to 
assist him in a meeting at Old Sligo Baptist 
119 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Church, in Henry County. Having flatly 
refused on account of the lack of experience, I 
thought the matter was settled, but he did not 
so view it, and very soon his persuasive speech 
and assuring tone laid every fear and silenced 
all opposition, and I found myself yielding to 
his masterful personality. A great meeting fol- 
lowed, largely due, I felt then and so think now, 
to the wonderful power of this godly man. He 
had been pastor of this old fraternity more than 
twenty-five years, and I found the church in 
a flourishing condition. The spirituality of the 
church rose to high tide, and, like a great com- 
mander at the head of his army marshalling his 
forces, he directed the meeting and led us on to 
the 'Delectable Mountains.' I learned then of 
his ardent love for God and his unwavering 
faith in Him, and that he had a consuming pas- 
sion for the salvation of sinners and an unswerv- 
ing loyalty to the church which Christ had 
purchased with his own blood. He loves young 
men and knows how to bind them to himself 
with the hoops of steel. We call him 'Old 
Brother Powers/ but in his breast there beats 
a heart and rules a spirit as blithesome as a 
new born day and as fresh as the manna that 
came from heaven. I have assisted him in many 
meetings, and the easiest and most fruitful ones 
120 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

were those we held in churches of which he was 
pastor. ' ' 

From Mansfield, La., Rev. 0. L. Powers sends 
the following appreciation of Mr. Powers, as he 
knew him twenty or more years ago when he was 
a student in Louisville, and at the same time 
preaching at Harrod's Creek Baptist Church: 
"I am sure I came into his life when I most 
needed him, and I trust God has used me to be 
of some comfort to him. He was once kind 
enough to say that God had used me in some 
sense to take the place of his own son whom 
God had taken from him. While he had oppor^ 
tunity, he was indeed a father to me in the gos- 
pel. He seemed as anxious for me to succeed 
as if I had been his own son. Don't understand 
me to say that I ever felt that he was an old 
man. I don't think he ever made that impres- 
sion on any one. He was ever young in spirit, 
always looking forward, and the best with him 
was yet to be. This hopeful spirit gave him 
great attractiveness and influence with young 
men. They loved him and liked to be with him 
and hear him talk. He loved them and rejoiced 
in the success and blessings which crowned their 
labors. He w^as just an elder brother. He was 
hospitable in his home and delighted to enter- 
tain his brethren, and especially those of the 
121 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

ministry. I remember bearing him say that he 
had known some pastors who were great on 
preaching hospitality to their people, but 
practiced it very little in their own homes. He 
did love to practice hospitality as well as preach 
it, and especially on his brother pastors. It was 
at his table and around his fireside he gave 
them advice and a conception of their high call- 
ing that have been an inspiration through all 
the years. 

"He was moderator of the Presbytery that 
ordained me at Old Harrod's Creek Church. It 
was to be a red letter day with the Baptists 
and the church. They were going to have dinner 
on the ground, and everybody who knew the 
women in that church knew it would be fit for 
a king to eat. When the day came the rain 
poured down in torrents and the people could 
not get there. Drs. Robinson and Eager and 
Brethren W. S. Pickard and J. S. Snider, from 
the Seminary, and Brothers Powers and Thomp- 
son composed the Presbytery. I had never been 
brought up in Sunday School and had never 
studied theology and these brethren led me as 
a lamb to the slaughter that day. They got on 
the Trinity and one brother asked me which one 
of the persons in the Trinity preceded. Brother 
Powers couldn't stand it any longer, so he said 
122 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

indignantly, 'Answer it yourself, sir!' I have 
never doubted the love of that old church since 
that day. If they had not loved me they would 
have stopped the proceedings and called for my 
resignation then and there. I think their for- 
bearance was largely due to the influence of 
Brother Powers. He believed thoroughly in a 
manly ministry. He could not tolerate an un- 
stable man in the ministry. While he always 
struck me as a man who magnified his calling, 
yet in his presence one always thought of the 
man and not the preacher. Wherever men saw 
him, whether he was going to or returning from 
his appointments, or in the pulpit preaching the 
gospel, or sitting around the hearthstone talk- 
ing about the Savior of the world, they intui- 
tively knew they were in the presence of one 
who was every whit a man. He was free from 
cant and every thing that smacks of profession- 
alism was so foreign to him, and he was so sin- 
cere and genuine that men everywhere, whether 
they agreed with him or not, loved him and 
treated him with the utmost consideration. 

"He was a loyal Baptist and he preached the 
doctrine, but he did it in such a way that people 
were not offended at him. Men who disagreed 
with him most widely, loved him most tenderly ; 
and there are scores of such men in Kentucky 
133 



The Life of Rev, Walter Ellis Powers. 

now who would consider it a heaven-sent bene- 
diction to have him in their homes and talk to 
them about the Savior whom he loves so ardently 
and has served so deligently for more than two 
generations. ' ' 

Rev. 0. L. Hailey, D.D., president of Way- 
land Baptist College, Plainview, Texas, under 
date of November 10, 1915, writes the author as 
follows : 

"Dear Brother White: I am in receipt of 
your request. ... It was my honor to be allowed 
to place the name of Dr. W. E. Powers before 
the Southern Baptist Convention at Nashville, 
in 1914, and to see him elected one of its Vice- 
Presidents. The motion was made in late rec- 
ognition of his high merits, and uniform and 
unfailing kindness shown to his younger and 
struggling brethren. He was the best preacher 
friend the boys had around Louisville. 

' ' I cannot recall exactly what I said, because 
it was impromptu, and the outbreaking of a 
long-time love and high regard for the stalwart 
servant of God and brother of man. As well as 
I can recall, I said : ' I desire to place in nomina- 
tion for one of the Vice-Presidents of this Con- 
vention, a brother who has ever been the stead- 
fast friend of the young preachers ; has perhaps 
done more than any other living man to encour- 

124 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

age and help the young preachers who went to 
the Southern 1 Baptist Theological Seminary. He 
possibly has helped more young men to enter 
the ministry and remain throughout their hard 
struggles to prepare themselves for their life 
work, than any other man now living. I am 
sure it will give the former students of the Sem- 
inary unmixed joy thus to express their esteem 
and regards for this aged servant of God.' 

"I do not know any man who holds a 
warmer place in my heart than W. E. Powers. 
His home was my home as it was of all the other 
boys who would go out and enjoy it. I have 
had the impulse, unnumbered times, to write 
him, before he departs to the Father's house, 
and tell him that he is cherished as one of God 's 
best gifts to me." 

Further evidence of Mr. Powers' influence 
over young men is the fact that twenty-nine 
young men, converted under his ministry be- 
came ministers of the gospel, the majority of 
whom were baptized with his own hands. And 
after they entered the ministry, they continued 
to be the objects of his love and solicitude, and 
he encouraged and helped them whenever it 
was possible for him to do so. When many of 
them had had little or no experience in preach- 
ing, he would invite them to help him in revival 
125 



The Life af Hei\ Walter Ellis Powers. 

meetings in one of his own churches and thus 
inspired by the sympathetic presence and en- 
couraged by the helpful word of the older pas- 
tor, they would gain confidence in their first 
efforts to preach the word. 



126 



XI. 

TRUE YOKEFELLOWS. 

It would not be possible to write a complete 
biography of Paul the great apostle, to the Gen- 
tiles without saying a great deal about Barna- 
bas, Silas, Timothy and other companions in 
travel and labor. So no apology is offered for 
incorporating in these annals a short sketch of 
the life and work of several pastors who touched 
shoulders with Mr. Powers in evangelistic work 
and greatly influenced him in his life. 

Smith Thomas was one of the pastors who 
occupied a high place in the affections of Mr. 
Powers' heart. He may be truly styled one of 
the great preachers of his generation. His ser- 
mons were studiously thought out and method- 
ically arranged so that they gathered force as 
the subject was developed. And when opportu- 
nity was given, he took great pains to find out 
the character of his audience and thus he was 
able to adapt his line of thought to the needs of 
his hearers. Very few preachers could more 
readily get the attention and grip the minds of 
an intelligent audience through the whole serv- 
ice than he. He was strikingly original in the 
method of presenting his thoughts and the ex- 
127 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

pression of his ideas. "His manner combined 
clear, easily understood logic, with much ten- 
derness of feeling and almost . irresistible per- 
suasion. In the social circle, he charmed alike 
the cultivated lady and gentleman, the prac- 
tical business man and the school girl of fifteen 
summers. In the pulpit, his eyes were nearly 
always suffused with tears and in the social 
circle, his face was lighted up with smiles. ' 7 
It is therefore no marvel that Mr. Thomas, in 
his preaching, reached the most cultivated 
classes in society. A large number of the lead- 
ing men and women in the country were con- 
verted under his preaching and brought into 
the churches. A very interesting anecdote is 
told of Mr. Thomas while, on one occasion, he 
was holding a meeting in Missouri. Having 
said something in one of his sermons that 
aroused the dissent of a Methodisj: preacher 
who lived in the community, the clerical gentle- 
man challenged him to a debate. Mr. Thomas 
promptly replied, saying: "No, I will not de- 
bate with you; for if I were to defeat you, 
Methodism would suffer, and if you were to de- 
feat me, the cause of truth would suffer. ' r 

At the request of his daughter, about ten 
years before his death, he wrote down an esti- 
mate of the number of persons he had baptized 
128 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

and received into the churches of which he had 
been pastor. All told, there were about thir- 
teen hundred souls; and to this number may be 
added two thousand persons who had been con- 
verted under his ministry and baptized by other 
pastors. And it is probable that he baptized 
another thousand while engaged in strictly 
evangelistic work. In a conversation with Dr. 
J. H. Spencer about ten years before his death, 
he called over the names of thirty-four minis- 
ters of the Gospel who had been converted and 
brought into the churches under his ministry, 
and on one occasion he proposed to the presi- 
dent of Georgetown College to compare them 
with a like number of preachers who had been 
educated in that institution. 

Another one of God's noblemen with whom 
Mr. Powers was closely associated in Gospel 
work was Thomas M. Daniel, who was born in 
Owen County. He was converted in the year 
1838, while the dew of youth was on his brow 
and soon afterwards he made profession of 
faith in Christ and united with New Liberty 
Baptist Church in the same county. He was 
licensed to preach in March, 1840. At first, he 
did not give promise of much efficiency, but in 
June, 1844, he was requested to preach one 
Sunday in each month to the church of which 
129 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

he was a member. Two years later, his ordina- 
tion was called for and the council that set him 
apart to the full work of the ministry was com- 
posed of Lewis D. Alexander, Elija Threlkeld 
and Paschal H. Todd, whose life and work are 
writ large in the history of Concord Associa- 
tion. Soon after his ordination, Mr. Daniel be- 
came pastor of the churches at Buffalo Lick and 
Indian Fork, in Shelby County, and afterwards 
of Campbellsburg church, in Henry County. 
During his pastorate of these churches, they all 
prospered, and many souls were converted and 
received into their fellowship, and under his 
ministry they enjoyed a good measure of spir- 
itual life. 

During the early years of his ministry, Mr. 
Daniel was a diligent student of the Bible, and 
he became proficient in handling the word of 
God. But having an aptitude for business and 
being very industrious, he began to accumulate 
property and according to his own confession, 
he allowed the world to get too strong a hold on 
his affections. However, this devotion to busi- 
ness and success in temporal affairs did not 
reach the point of his neglecting the churches 
of which he was pastor, nor did it diminish the 
confidence of his brethren in the integrity of 
his moral character. No man ever maintained 

130 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

a more stainless character than he, or had a 
warmer place in the affections of the people, but 
he gave to temporal affairs too much of the time 
that should have been devoted to study, and 
hence he failed to attain to that high degree in 
his sacred vocation of which he was capable. 

Darnell Dowden was another preacher who 
greatly influenced Mr. Powers, and for whom 
our hero had an ardent love and a genuine ad- 
miration. He was one of those men who are 
content to do their work in an unobtrusive man- 
ner and without any blare of trumpets to keep 
their names in the limelight. Dr. Dowden 's con- 
tribution to our denominational life was a very 
appreciable one, though adequate recognition of 
his attainments as a preacher and theologian 
has never been given. He was a man whose in- 
tellectual furnishings were of a high order, and 
who was a writer of no mean ability. In a 
large measure, he was a theological school to 
the pastors and churches in Goshen Association, 
where he was ardently loved for his intrinsic 
worth of character and for his loyalty to New 
Testament teachings. No one ever had any 
doubt as to his views on certain questions that 
have frequently been up for discussion in our 
denominational councils and which have often 
been a disturbing element among us. He was a 
131 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Landmarker after the Graves and Pendleton 
type, and he tenaciously held that one could not 
pass beyond certain boundaries in recognition 
of the claims of other denominations without 
danger of disturbing the integrity of church or- 
ganization. He held tenaciously and out- 
spokenly some views that are sharply antago- 
nized by a very considerable number of pastors 
whose life-work speaks for itself and whose in- 
tellectual furnishings no one can gainsay. Dr. 
Dowden was, first and last, opposed to exchange 
of pulpits with other denominations and he re- 
fused to engage in union meetings when there 
was mutual recognition of the churches of other 
denominations as New Testament churches, and 
his loyalty to his convictions would not permit 
him to recognize alien immersion as valid bap- 
tism. These views were the result of diligent 
and extensive reading, much thought and wide 
observation. When in his old age, Dr. Dowden 
lost the wife of his young manhood, it looked 
as if he could not be reconciled to his bereave- 
ment. He sent for Brother Powers, who imme- 
diately responded to the call of his yoke-fellow 
and spent two weeks with him, preaching every 
day, setting forth God 's love for his chosen ones 
and stressing the promises of God, showing that 
He never fails His people in the crises of life. 
132 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

God blessed the preaching of His word, the 
clouds lifted and the sunshine of God's pres- 
ence again cheered the heart of His aged and 
faithful servant. 

Mr. Powers was on intimate and fraternal 
relations with Rev. Thomas M. Vaughn, the son 
son of Dr. Wm. Vaughn, the span of whose life 
reached back into the eighteenth century and 
who labored in the ministry with the pioneer 
preachers, Lewis Craig, John Taylor, Wm. Hick- 
man, Ambrose Dudley and Joseph Redding. Dr. 
Vaughn lived to pass the ninety-first milestone 
in the pilgrimage of life and was present at the 
General Association when it met in Louisville 
in 1876 and, while leaning on the arms of his 
son, and Rev. Joseph E. Carter, made a short 
speech that thrilled the hearts of a large con- 
gregation of ministers and laymen who were 
assembled to commemorate the deeds of our 
Baptist forefathers who bore so conspicuous 
part in achieving American independence and 
who stood almost alone in contending for the 
insertion of the clause in the constitution of the 
United States guaranteeing religious freedom. 
The son did not become so distinguished as 
his father whose ability as a preacher and the- 
ologian made him conspicuous whenever he was 
called on to speak. But while- not brilliant, 
133 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Thomas Vaughn was a good, model preacher, 
and he was pastor of some of the best churches 
in Kentucky. He had a good intellect which 
was well disciplined and he was well informed 
in all that pertained to the pastoral vocation. 
During the trying days of the war between the 
States, more than fifty years ago, M. Vaughn 
was pastor of the Baptist church at Simpson- 
ville, then a much more vigorous body than it 
is now. 

In those troublous times, Mr. Powers was 
invited by the pastor and church to hold a meet- 
ing with them. Mr. Vaughn was not, in the 
commonly accepted sense of the word, a politi- 
cian but the conditions were peculiar, and while 
Kentucky never formally withdrew from the 
union, yet the majority of her citizens were in 
sympathy with the movement that led the 
Southern States to set up an independent gov- 
ernment. And thus it came about that not to 
have an opinion on the issues involved in the 
war was to write oneself down a nonentity. 
The Simpsonville pastor held very decided views 
on the political questions of the day and these 
views did not accord with the views held by a 
majority of the people to whom he preached. 
But the pastor had not used the pulpit to preach 
politics, and in all his bearing, toward the 

134 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

church and community he had exercised most 
praiseworthy discretion, and so notwithstanding 
the antagonistic views held by pastor and people 
on current questions, there had been no disturb- 
ance of Christian fellowship. 

This was the situation when Mr. Powers, an 
ardent Southern sympathizer, was invited to 
hold a meeting of days with the church. But 
the visiting brother soon learned that the 
church, without intending to do so, had neg- 
lected their pastor, and his salary was long 
overdue. As is usually the custom in beginning 
a. meeting, the first few sermons were preached 
to the church. The first move in evangelistic 
effort is to get the church right with God and 
with one another, and not till then is the way 
open for effective preaching to the unconverted. 
With this specific aim before him, Mr. Powers 
preached not only in the pulpit, but in the 
homes between the morning and the evening 
services. One day he went to dine with a 
brother who owned a large farm, well stocked 
with hogs, cattle and horses. This brother had 
in the pen one hundred hogs that were ready 
for market. He invited Brother Powers to go 
out and look at them. Hogs were then selling 
for ten dollars a hundred pounds. The preacher 
saw his opportunity and so indirectly and some- 
135 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

what after the manner of Nathan, the prophet, 
with David the King, he told of a man whom 
he knew that was very much embarrassed for 
want of the ordinary comforts and necessities 
of life in his home ; and now winter was near at 
hand and the larder was not well stocked and 
the outlook was not very assuring. Moreover, 
he was a worthy man and, being a cripple, he 
could not perform manual labor for a liveli- 
hood. The man was their pastor. Without any 
further urging, the farmer said he would give 
him one of his fat hogs. The next day, the vis- 
iting preacher dined with another member of 
the church and the parable was repeated with 
like results. Very soon, enough meat and other 
edibles were donated to stock the larder of the 
pastor for a year. They had a profitable and 
enjoyable meeting, and the visiting brother was 
handsomely remunerated for his services. 

The apostle Paul lays a trembling emphasis 
on the thought that not many wise men after 
the flesh, not many noble, not many mighty, are 
called. And sure it is that in one of the most 
brilliant periods of the human intellect, Christ 
chose twelve poor fishermen to bear his message 
to a lost world. And what is said of the wise, 
the noble and the mighty, can be said as truly 
of the rich. Not many from either class 
136 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

are called, but the Lord, now and then, in the 
exercise of his sovereignty, lays hands on a few 
from each class. One of these notable excep- 
tions was Dr. Richard Fuller, who, for more 
than a generation, preached the Gospel in the 
city of Baltimore and who, so far as American 
society is concerned, was born to the purple. 
Distinguished social position, great wealth and 
superior intellectual furnishings were his by in- 
heritance, but he never let these things stand in 
the way when he was called to be an ambassador 
for Christ. Dr. Broadus was wont to speak of 
Dr. Fuller as the prince of American preachers. 
Not so distinguished by birth, nor for supe- 
rior intellectual furnishings, as was Dr. Fuller, 
yet Andrew E. Shirley was born of wealthy 
parents and grew into manhood under the in- 
fluences of the best social circles in Louisville, 
and had all the advantages of the best schools 
of that time. He also touched Mr. Powers' life 
at many places and on many occasions, and our 
hero speaks of him as that godly man and con- 
secrated minister, Andrew E. Shirley. His 
piety was deep, sincere and unpretending. The 
religion of Jesus Christ was the constant theme 
of his conversation and all who were in his 
presence felt that his heart was overflowing 
with the love of the Redeemer. 
137 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Mr. Shirley -was an only eliild. His father 
having died when he was an infant, he was left 
to the sole care of his mother who gave him a 
good education. In early life, he joined the 
Disciples' church of which his mother was a 
member. ''Arriving at the age of manhood, his 
health was somewhat infirm and he went to 
Trimble County and spent some time with re- 
lations. During this visit, he attended services 
at a Baptist church with his kinsfolk and be- 
came deeply convicted of his depravity of heart 
and guilt in the sight of God. After seeking the 
Lord earnestly for some time, he was made to 
rejoice greatly in a sense of the love of God shed 
abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given to 
him. In applying to Middle Creek Church 
(Trimble County), for membership, he stood 
up and related his Christian experience, and 
closed with a fervent exhortation and invitation 
for the unconverted to come forward for- prayer. 
Quite a number came, and he knelt down and 
prayed for them. Thus began the ministry of 
that devoted servant of Jesus Christ. 7 ' Soon 
after his conversion, Mr. Shirley returned to 
his home in Louisville and became a member of 
Walnut Street Church, where he was ordained 
to the ministry, and for several years he did 
missionary work in the city. He afterwards be- 
138 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Po-wers. 

came pastor of four churches in Oldham 
County, one of which was Eighteen Mile Church, 
which he served for sixteen years, and it is 
probable that no pastor of that old fraternity 
was more ardently loved or was more worthy 
of such love than Andrew E. Shirley. 

The foregoing names do not exhaust the roll 
of pastors and evangelists who were yoke-fel- 
lows with Mr. Powers in revival work; the num- 
ber is sufficient, however, to indicate the ability 
and worth of the men who had something to do 
in moulding the character and directing the 
energies of our hero in the early days of his 
ministry. 

In the foregoing brief pen portraits one can 
not fail to be impressed with two things. The 
type of the conviction for sin and of conversion 
experienced by these men, including the hero 
of this story, largely conformed to the type of 
conversion of which we have an account in the 
New Testament. Another thing which im- 
presses the thoughtful observer is the fact that 
this type of conviction and conversion is rarely 
met with in our preaching today. 

There was a depth and pungency of convic- 
tion in their experience which certainly indi- 
cate that to these men, sin was not merely a 
temporary irregularity of conduct which by 
139 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

force of will could be thrown off as easily as 
one could lay aside the cares and perplexity of 
the day and retire at nightfall to his couch for 
rest. One can see at a glance that they looked 
on sin as an agency or principle that had cor- 
rupted the very fountain-head of life and made 
it forever impossible for them to effect purity 
of character, propitiate God and make an atone- 
ment for their sins. They were painfully con- 
scious of the fact that whatever they might offer 
in the way of sacrifice or regularity of conduct 
would be tainted with the corruption of that 
hurtful thing of which they yearned to be 
purged. They had no shallow conception of the 
ravages that sin had wrought in their own lives 
and in the lives of those around them. Hence 
the joy that came into their hearts when once 
they realized that God had fully diagnosed their 
case and found a remedy and assured them that 
there is balm in Gilead for healing and that in. 
the house of David had been opened a fountain 
for sin and uncleanness. 

This type of conviction and conversion is 
rarely met with now-a-days and one can hardly 
refrain from asking why it is so seldom heard 
of. There can be no grounds for doubting that 
this is the Bible conception of sin and forgive- 
ness. The most superficial reader of Psalms 
140 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

and prophets cannot fail to note that sin was 
alienation from God and forgiveness was resto- 
ration to Divine favor and the fruits thereof 
are joy and gladness. No one ever felt more 
deeply and expressed himself more accurately 
concerning the heinousness of sin than Paul. 
This conception of sin can not be explained away 
(by saying the Biblical writers expressed them- 
selves in Oriental hyperbole merely to heighten 
effect. This type of conviction and conversion 
has been experienced by too many of the great 
and good men of Christian history to allow of 
an explanation that regards it as rhetorical ex- 
aggeration. This shallow conception of sin can 
not account for the experience of such men as 
Augustine, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John 
Bunyan, Adoniram Judson, Richard Fuller, and 
a host of others whose names are writ large in 
the history of the Christian religion. What is 
the explanation of the difference between the 
Bible type of conversion which was so often 
paralleled within the memory of men still living 
and the conversion and experience witnessed 
now-a-days? It would perhaps be unsafe to 
dogmatize on this subject. However, this 
writer modestly offers a suggestion. In part, 
early religious teachings in the home and Sun- 
day School may account for the absence of the 
141 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

very striking features of religious experience 
of former days. Christian parents, faithful 
teachers and the adaptation of pulpit efforts to 
the youthful mind doubtless do lead to a grad- 
ual consciousness of the burden of sin and a 
yearning to escape from its bondage. But all 
children do not have this faithful teaching" in 
the home and Sunday School. I do not think, 
however, a more general diffusion of Biblical 
teaching is sufficient to account for the almost 
universal absence of the former type of conver- 
sion. A satisfactory explanation of the differ- 
ence under consideration may lead to the rec- 
ognition of the absence of a fundamental fac- 
tor in modern evangelism. 

The author of this sketch is so circum- 
stanced that he hears almost every Sunday one 
preacher out of each of four different denom- 
inations, all claiming to belong to the evangel- 
ical school of theology. And yet with rare ex- 
ceptions does he ever hear a sermon that stresses 
the Bible doctrine of the turpitude of the hu- 
man heart. Men whose lives are polluted with 
every sin forbidden in the Decalogue are ap- 
pealed to as though all that is necessary for 
them to do is to resolve to lead a better life and 
join the church. Nor has it been a great while 

since he heard a distinguished professor in a 
142 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

well-known theological seminary say that he 
taught his children that they are already chil- 
dren of God, and that it is now incumbent on 
them to conduct themselves in a way to accord 
with this exalted relationship. In a book re- 
cently published, the author, Dr. Leonidas Rob- 
inson, states but does not prove that ' * the Abra- 
hamic covenant, which included the children, 
was adopted by Jesus, and its forms were filled 
with spiritual significance. They were in the 
covenant of Abraham; so they are children of 
God by the grace that was in Christ." The 
Bible, however, teaches that the heart is deceit- 
ful above all things and desperately wicked and 
that it is as impossible for men to do good who 
are accustomed to do evil as it is for the Ethio- 
pian to change his skin or the leopard his 
spots. And any doctrine to the contrary, how- 
ever distinguished the teacher, proceeds on an 
assumption that is fundamentally false and 
misleading. Men are often preached to as 
though they could regulate their conduct by 
reason and common sense. Reason and common 
sense are great helps no doubt ; but how are 
they going to create in men a new heart and 
renew a right spirit within them? Right here 
is where much of the present day preaching 
comes short of the gospel requirement. 
143 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Reason, experience and observation all teach 
that man is born with a capacity for higher life 
than that of his horse, than that which he lives 
as an animal in this world. "There is in him 
a capacity for becoming' something different, 
better and higher than that which he actually 
is by his natural birth. He has a capacity which 
lies dormant or dead until the Holy 'Spirit comes 
and quickens it. There are many things, and 
great things, man can do without any further 
Divine assistance than that which is lodged for 
the whole race in the natural laws which make 
no distinction between godly and ungodly ; there 
are many and great things which man can do 
by virtue of his natural birth; but one thing 
he cannot do — he cannot quicken within him- 
self the power to love God and live for Him. 
For this there is needed an influence from with- 
out, the efficient touch of the Holy Spirit, the 
impartation of his life. The capacity to become 
.a child of God is man's, but the development 
of this lies with God. Without this capacity a 
man is not a man, has not that which is most 
distinctive of human nature. Every man is 
born with that in him which the Spirit of God 
may -quicken into Divine life. This is human 
nature. When this capacity is so quickened, 

when the man has begun to live as a child of 
144 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

God, he has not lost his human nature, but has 
above and beyond become a partaker of the 
Divine nature. When the image of God, as well 
as that of his earthly pursuits, becomes mani- 
fest in a man, then his human nature has re- 
ceived its utmost development — he is born 
again. ' ' 

Some writers account for the sudden collapse 
of so called Christian civilization in Europe on 
the ground that the beast in man has not been 
sufficiently reckoned with. The irony of twelve 
avowedly Christian nations plunging into such 
a war as that which is now devasting Europe is 
a spectacle to make the angels weep. It looks 
as though Christianity has been thrown to the 
dogs and the nations have gone mad. At the 
very moment when the International Peace 
Congress was in session, at Constance, war was 
declared by a few autocratic rulers of Europe, 
and millions of men suddenly became frenzied, 
and with wild eyes and bestial thirst for blood, 
rushed at each other with the savageness of the 
tiger. And, paradoxical as it may seem, the 
good people in every one of the twelve nations 
previous to the sudden spread of the war fever, 
bore no ill-will to the good people of other 
nations — indeed, had much good-will toward 
them. 

145 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Dr. Frederick Lynch, who, at the outbreak 
of the war, was in Europe, suggests that a wholly 
new presentation of Christianity is necessary 
before such outbreaks can be stopped — very dif- 
ferent at least from that which is heard in many 
pulpits nowadays. " Perhaps we have got to 
teach what Christ Himself taught, again and 
again, namely, that love of all Christians for 
each other, all men of good will for one another, 
must transcend race, nationality, and every 
other bond. We have never dared to preach 
this, although it was constantly on Christ's lips. 
He even went further and said it must tran- 
scend family ties. It would be as impossible 
for one Christian to kill another, did we really 
believe in Christ and accept His gospel as it 
would be for an affectionate son to kill his 
mother. Another thing which we think every 
American of the fifty, who got their first sight 
of war in August, 1914, has come to feel is that 
our religion has broken down in its psychology, 
that the gospel has been addressed to a man 
that does not exist, that our sermons have been 
preached to an imaginary man. We have been 
preaching to men as highly respectable, on the 
whole good. Some of them even saintly, while 
as a matter of fact this has been only seeming. 
They have seemed thus because great tempta- 
146 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

tions have not roused them from their sleep. 
No one who came across Europe during the out- 
break of this unparalleled war can ever hold 
this easy faith again. Men are beasts; cruel, 
lustful, revengeful, ravening, just as the gospel 
represents them. There are exceptions, but in 
most of us the beast lies just below the surface, 
and nothing but a regeneration which shall 
sweep through men's souls as a wind from 
heaven can make them clean/ ' 



"147 



XII. 
LONG PASTORATES. 

Among Baptist churches in Kentucky, there 
is nothing more detrimental to their growth and 
efficiency than the want of greater permanence 
in the pastoral relation. It is an occasion of 
weakness, very generally recognized by both 
pastors and churches, but so far, no effective 
remedy has been discovered for making more 
stable the relation between pastors and churches, 
or if found, very few churches and pastors have 
had the skill and courage to administer the 
remedy. 

Those who have not taken the pains to look 
into this deplorable condition among our 
churches, will perhaps have some doubts as to 
its prevalence over any considerable part of our 
commonwealth. My knowledge of the situation 
does not hold good for the whole State, but 
there are two Associations with which I am 
fairly well acquainted, and I feel very sure 
there is not a preacher in either one of them 
that has been pastor continuously of one or more 
churches as long as ten yers. In Bracken Asso- 
ciation, kingdom-building has been very greatly 
retarded by the fact that the pastors who locate 

149 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

with the churches soon, become restless, and be- 
fore they have had time to get well acquainted 
with their congregations and thus able to 
minister effectively to their needs, they resign 
and go to another field. 

The instability of pastors in Long Run Asso- 
ciation has become very conspicuous. When 
Dr. J. M. Walker resigned at Crestwood, the 
first of June, 1916, it was the closing of a pastor- 
ate of ten and a half years of signally successful 
work, whether you measure it by the numerical 
increase of the membership of the church or by 
the enlarged contributions to the missionary and 
educational work of the denomination. This 
pastorate is the more conspicuous because of the 
fact that the pastor, for the first four years, 
was prosecuting his studies in the Seminary at 
Louisville. At this writing, I don't think there 
is a pastor in Long Run Association who has 
been with his congregation ten years. 

Those who have knowledge of the situation 
in Tennessee, report that a similar condition ex- 
ists among Baptist churches in that State. On 
the occasion of the seventh anniversary of his 
pastorate in Nashville, Dr. Rufus W. Weaver, 
among other things, said: 

1 ' 1 am, in point of service, the oldest Baptist 
pastor in Nashville, the fifth among Baptist 
150 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

pastors in Tennessee, and if my information is 
correct, the third among all the evangelical de- 
nominations in this city. I have seen fifty-eight 
Baptist pastors, either come or go, in the 
eighteen Baptist churches of Nashville since I 
came here in 1908. The average length of pas- 
torates among Baptist pastors in the State, has 
been two years and two months. One of the im- 
perative needs of the day is a greater patience 
on the part of the people with their pastors and 
a greater fortitude on the part of the pastors in 
facing the difficulties which are found in every 
church. Among those difficulties there is none 
greater than the one which grows out of the 
restless spirit of the times, and the consequent 
and constantly shifting population. The modern 
preacher in the city makes his appeal to a mov- 
ing procession. Of the church membership 
which welcomed me seven years ago, there re- 
main only sixty-five who may be regarded as 
active members, doing their share of the work 
of this church; of the fifteen church officers, 
there remain only four; of the twenty-seven 
Sunday School officers and teachers, only eight 
are now in our membership." 

Some of the difficulties in the way of longer 
pastorates are real and formidable, but not in- 
surmountable. It is not infrequently the case 
151 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

that after a man has been with a church two 
or three years, he learns some things about the 
situation that would have led him to decline 
the call if he had been advised of them before 
accepting the charge. He has been on the field 
long enough, to read between the lines of the 
conduct and profession of some prominent mem- 
bers, and they become aware of the fact that 
the pastor has knowledge of their shortcomings, 
and they begin to manifest signs of restlessness 
and suggest the desirableness of the pastor's 
resignation and the coming of another man who 
is not so well acquainted with their irregular 
lives. But in nine cases out of ten, the pastor 
should stay on the field. However, in order to 
remain and successfully prosecute the work, he 
will need the wisdom of serpents, the harmless- 
ness of doves, the patience of Job and the cour- 
age and endurance of Paul. 

Nearly all our country churches follow the 
long-established, but unjustifiable custom of 
making annual calls to their pastors. The usual 
argument advanced in favor of annual calls is 
that it enables a church more easily to dispense 
with the services of a pastor who is not desired. 
Churches which make annual calls do not seem 
to recognize the many advantages of a long pas- 
torate. At least in the custom of making annual 
152 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

calls, they unwittingly leave open the door for 
the disturbance of the pastoral relation. 

Though something to be greatly desired, yet 
rarely do we find a unanimous agreement 
among the members of a church in choosing a 
pastor, and so at the expiration of the year 
when the time comes to vote for a pastor, a dis- 
affected element will more than likely take ad- 
vantage of the occasion to make their dissent 
known, and they will usually be accorded a rec- 
ognition altogether out of proportion to the in- 
dividual worth of the disaffected element. An 
overwhelming majority of the church may wish 
the pastoral relation to continue, yet the veiy 
fact that objection has been raised against the 
continuance of the pastor may lead him to de- 
cline to serve the church any longer. Every 
church, in extending a call to a pastor, and 
every pastor, in accepting the oversight of a 
church, should have in mind the many advan- 
tages of a long pastorate. It is readily admitted 
that occasionally a pastor overstays the day of 
his usefulness, but such a case is rare as com- 
pared with the many instances when the rela- 
tion between pastor and people is severed before 
the work of the pastor is finished. 

A few long pastorates in Long Rim Associa- 
tion have been conspicuously fruitful of much 
153 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

good. W. P. Barnett was pastor of King's 
Church for about forty years ; Dr. J. M. Weaver 
served Chestnut Street Church (now Weaver 
Memorial), nearly fifty years, and Dr. T. T. 
Eaton ministered to Walnut Street Church for 
twenty-six years. These were all good and 
faithful ministers of the Word and approved 
themselves unto God, workmen that needed not 
to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of 
truth, giving to each his portion in due season, 
and these faithful shepherds left the impress of 
their character and teachings, not only on their 
immediate congregations, but their influence ex- 
tended throughout the entire communities in 
which they lived and labored. 

And not the least conspicuous among long 
pastorates in Long Run and other Associations 
are those held by W. E. Powers, the subject of 
this sketch. The organization of Beechland 
Church was among the first fruits of his min- 
istry. He was their first pastor. In the begin- 
ning of his work with this church, he preached 
to them only once a month, Saturday and the 
Sundajr following. After a few years, he was 
invited to preach to them two Sundays in each 
month. At the end of a twenty-two years' pas- 
torate, he had the privilege of seeing the church 
become a self-supporting congregation, having 
154 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

preaching every Sunday. The facts just related 
show that the church not only increased in num- 
bers, but that as new members were received into 
the fold, they were taken in hand by the pastor 
and taught that they must not only be hearers 
of the Word, but doers of the same, and thus 
the growth in members was matched by a corre- 
sponding increase in efficiency. 

At the death of Elder W. P. Barnett, Mr. 
Powers succeeded him in the pastorate of King's 
Church in Bullitt County. Having conducted 
twenty or more revival meetings in this church 
during the incumbency of his immediate prede- 
cessor, he was no stranger among them, and 
thus it was not necessary for them to waste time 
in getting acquainted with each other. Mr. 
Powers ministered to this church twelve years, 
and during the whole time there was an encour- 
aging growth in members and efficiency. Very 
recently, under the wise management of Rev. 
E. C. Stevens, this old fraternity has requested 
the services of a pastor every Sunday. 

Mr. Powers' pastorate at Long Run Church 
was prolonged beyond thirty years, and he be- 
gan his work at Sligo Church in Henry County, 
in January, 1868, and continued to serve them 
till the end of the year 1895. 

One of the charming features of these long 
155 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

continued pastorates is the beautiful friendships 
that take root and imperceptibly grow up be- 
tween pastor and people. This is undoubtedly 
true of all the pastors who have been specifically 
mentioned, and their names today are redolent 
of gone-by years. It would perhaps be too 
much to say that every man and woman in the 
churches which Mr. Powers served was his 
friend, but one is perfectly safe in saying that 
the exceptions were rare; and while specific 
mention cannot be made of all these friends, yet 
it is worth while to insert in this record the 
names of a few men and women, who are only 
representative of a great number. 

In Long Run Church, Brother Powers was 
on terms of Christian amity and friendship with 
the Johnsons, Collinses, Sturgeons, Longs, Hen- 
sons, and Enochs, all of whom were loyal sup- 
porters of his ministry for nearly a generation. 
In the Beechland Church, were the Fosses, Ever- 
harts, Kennedys, some of whom were the first 
fruits of his ministry, and two generations of 
which regarded him as their spiritual father, 
and implicitly trusted him as their pastor. In 
King's Church were the Drakes, Wesleys, Mark- 
wells, Ellebys, and Wiggintons, who gave him 
loyal support in his efforts to propagate the 
Gospel. In Sligo Church, J. J. Merchant and 
156 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

his entire family were his steadfast and devoted 
friends. The Starks were just as loyal in their 
admiration and support of their pastor. While 
both were living, J. J. Merchant and his pastor 
entered into covenant with each other to the end 
that whichever should be the survivor, would 
have a care of the family of the deceased. In the 
year 1877, Mr. Merchant departed this life, 
while Brother Powers survived thirty-nine 
years, yet he never failed to make one or more 
annual visits to his old friend's children and 
before his death, the third generation of the 
Merchants considered it an honor to have their 
old pastor as a guest in their homes. 

On one occasion, during his pastorate at 
Sligo, Brother Powers was confined to his bed 
for many weeks on account of a serious sick- 
ness, and although it was midwinter and the 
roads nearly impassable, Mrs. Starks, then 
above sixty years old, was not deterred from 
going on horseback twenty-one miles to visit her 
pastor. In the presence of such devotion, it is 
no marvel that the pastor said the sight of her 
face was like a burst of sunshine from behind 
a dark cloud on a wintry day and gladdened his 
heart more than a visit from his doctor. The 
members of Sligo Church tell with pleasure and 
sadness that Brother Powers' son, John Spencer, 
157 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

preached his maiden sermon in their church 
during a meeting of days that was conducted 
by his father. Though a novice in the role of 
preacher, this young man gave promise of be- 
coming eminent in his calling, and the few 
years that he lived after beginning his work 
justified the expectations of his father and many 
friends. After finishing his work in George- 
town College and taking a course of studies in 
the Seminary at Louisville, this gifted young 
man accepted the care of the Baptist church in 
Narborne, Mo. But while the dew of youth was 
yet on his brow and before he had reached the 
noon of life, November 11, 1894, he was called 
from labor to reward. This was a bereavement 
that sorely grieved the heart of the venerable 
father, but he never murmured against the 
ways of Providence. He courageously addressed 
himself to the work before him and said, "The 
will of the Lord be done. ' ' 

And in this connection, let it be recorded to 
the praise of old Sligo Church, which has passed 
the hundredth milestone in her career of useful- 
ness, that there are members in her fold who 
have nearly reached their three-score years in 
the pilgrimage of life, and yet have known only 
three pastors. Brother Powers served the 
church twenty-seven years, and was succeeded 
158 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

by Rev. J. T. Sampson, who broke to them the 
bread of life for fourteen years, and after his 
death, Dr. J. M. Walker was called to the care 
of the church and he served them six years. 
The church prospered under the ministration of 
all three of these pastors, and they were greatly 
beloved, both on account of their personal worth 
and for their work's sake. 



159 




Ceement Powers, father of W. E. Powers 



XIII. 

THE NESTOR OF MODERATORS. 

Every man who has had much to do with 
horses knows that not infrequently a good team 
becomes balky and unreliable in the hands of 
an incompetent driver, while on the other hand 
a team that has been spoiled can be trained to 
pull together when the reins are in the hands 
of a teamster who thoroughly knows his busi- 
ness. This observation holds good with regard 
to deliberative bodies. 

Very seldom has the Kentucky Baptist Gen- 
eral Association been entrusted to the hands of 
an imcompetent Moderator. However, this was 
the case on one occasion. The presiding officer 
did not understand the ins and outs of parlia- 
mentary law and the result was that, at one 
stage in the proceedings, deliberation was 
thrown to the winds for a few minutes and great 
confusion was precipitated in the business, and 
soon a half dozen men were on their feet trying 
to get the recognition of the chair. It so hap- 
pened that Dr. J. P. Boyce, a skilful presiding 
officer and universally recognized as authority 
in parliamentary law, was present and having 
obtained the recognition of the chair, he made 
161 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

a few explanatory statements which, were fol- 
lowed by a motion, and within a few minutes 
the tangle was straightened out and the busi- 
ness of the Association went on in an orderly 
manner. 

Our district associations, being smaller 
bodies, do not so often get into confusion for 
want of a competent Moderator, but even when 
the body is small, a skilful and impartial pre- 
siding officer contributes largely to orderliness 
in the procedure and dispatch of business. 

It is needless to say that every man who has 
been honored by his brethren and entrusted 
with the management of a deliberative body 
should make some effort to qualify himself for 
the duties of the office. This writer has had an 
experience of more than forty years in observ- 
ing the workings of our district associations^ 
and he is glad to believe there has been improve- 
ment in the qualification of the men who are 
called to preside over them. And yet candor 
compels him to say there is still room for great 
improvement, and all the more has this become a 
necessity since nearly all our district associa- 
tions have elected to put their business through 
within the limits of two days. 

Mr. Powers began the study of parliamen- 
tary law several years before he was ordained 
162 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

to the work of preaching the Gospel. His in- 
terest in the matter came about on thiswise. 
In the year 1845, the year in which he attained 
his majority, in which too he was married, he 
became an Entered Apprentice in Lodge No. 
47 F. & A. M. at Lagrange. In the year 1846, 
he was demitted from Lodge No. 47 to Wingate 
Lodge No. 161 at Simpson ville, with which his 
membership remained till he was called to join 
the larger brotherhood beyond. He soon gained 
an enviable place in the confidence and affec- 
tions of his Masonic brethren. He was elected 
Master of Wingate Lodge in the year 1852, '53, 
J 54 and 1859. In the year 1867, he is reported 
as Senior Warden of his lodge. In the year 
1895, when he had reached the end of the fif- 
tieth year of his membership in the Masonic 
fraternity, the members of Wingate Lodge made 
recognition of the nnnsnal event in a very pleas- 
ing way. They made a banquet in his honor 
to commemorate the occasion. Not only was 
the greater number of the local lodge present. 
but many brethren from other lodges were also 
there. Such a coming together was an honor 
to those who projected it and made it possible, 
and the venerable guest of the occasion was 
worthy of the unusual tribute. Thus we see 
that this record as a Mason has had very few 
163 



The Life of Rev. Walter EUds Powers. 

parallels in the fraternity in Kentucky. He 
maintained an unbroken connection with this 
ancient and honorable brotherhood from the 
year 1845 till his death in the year 1916, a 
stretch of time reaching through two genera- 
tions, or to be nearly exact, seventy-one years. 
And when his funeral took place at Simpson- 
ville, November 28, 1916, the Lodge had special 
charge of the casket and escorted it to Todd's 
Point where, after the usual honors at the grave, 
the body was laid to rest beside that of his be- 
loved wife, who had preceded him to the glory- 
land more than twenty years. In all his rela- 
tions to the lodge, he was faithful and exem- 
plary, but the claims of the lodge were not suf- 
fered to interfere with his loyalty and obliga- 
tions to his churches and the associations. He 
gave the claims of his churches the right of way, 
and when the time came for him to go to one of 
his appointments, the claims of the lodge were 
relegated to the second place in his affections, 
and his sense of duty was quickened by a con- 
sciousness of the presence of Him who, through 
Paul, charged the Ephesian Elders to take heed 
unto themselves and to the flock over the which 
the Holy Ghost had made them overseers, to 
feed the Church of God which He had pur- 
chased with his own blood. 
164 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Potvers. 

Many years given to the study of parliamen- 
tary law and four years of experience as presid- 
ing officer in the lodge gave him something more 
than a local reputation as a competent and im- 
partial moderator. Thus it came about in the 
years 1880, when Long Run Association met at 
Taylorsville, Mr. Powers was elected to preside 
over the deliberations of the body, and he was 
re-elected at every annual session, during 
the remainder of his life, except on three occa- 
sions. In the year 1882 and 1883, Hon. I. W. 
Edwards was called to the moderatorship of 
the association and in the year 1891, Dr. W. H. 
Whitsitt was chosen to preside. It would be an 
honor to preside over the deliberations of Long 
Run Association even once, but to have that 
honor thirty-four years out of thirty-seven is a 
distinction that cannot be claimed by many 
brethren in our Baptist brotherhood. There is 
an instance, however, in which one of our Ken- 
tucky pastors made a record that surpasses that 
of Mr. Powers by several years. Soon after 
E. G. Berry, the pastor who baptized Mr. 
Powers, and a true yoke-fellow in Gospel work, 
was ordained to the ministry, he was elected 
Moderator of Sulphur Fork Association and 
was re-elected each year till he had completed 
fifty years of service in that office. If there is 
165 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

any other case on record that equals that of E. 
G. Berry for length of service as Moderator of 
an association, this writer is not advised of it. 

Mr. Powers was in many respects admirably 
equipped for a presiding officer. He had a com- 
prehensive knowledge of parliamentary law and 
an active memory, readily recalling what he had 
read and studied. His sense of justice was keen 
and discriminating, and while, perhaps, it can 
not be said he was always wholly detached in 
his rulings, yet they were surprisingly free 
from prejudice. He was perfect in tem- 
per, always had himself well in hand, unfail- 
ingly good humored, invariably optimistic and 
yet withal splendidly courageous when the oc- 
casion required, and while he greatly appre- 
ciated the expressed approval of his brethren, 
flattery had no purchasing power with him, nor 
did aggressiveness on the part of those who dis- 
sented from his rulings, in the least, disturb 
him. 

Historic Long Run Association, take it one 
year with another, is as dignified a deliberative 
body as can be found within the boundaries of 
the commonwealth. We could not expect it to 
be otherwise in view of the character of the men 
who have, in' the past, presided over it. Here are 
the names of some of the men who were mod- 
166 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

erators of the association in a former genera- 
tion: George Waller, Wm. C. Buck, John L. 
Waller, Smith Thomas, S. H. Ford, A. B. 
Knight, J. L. Burrows and A. C. Caperton. And 
now comes the name of the late venerable Mod- 
erator, Walter Ellis Powers, who, for more than 
an average generation, presided over the delib- 
erations of the Association. Thus we see that 
the churches and pastors, composing Long Run 
Association, have noble traditions in the char- 
acter of the men who have presided at her an- 
nual sessions. 

But on a few occasions the messengers 
seemed to forget their noble traditions and were 
not swayed by the precious memories of the 
past. This was conspicuously the case in the 
years 1896 and 1897, when the Association met 
respectively with Walnut Street Church in 
Louisville, and Long Run Church, of which Mr. 
Powers was at the time pastor. It was during 
the session held at Walnut Street Church that 
what is known, among Kentucky Baptists, as the 
Whitsitt controversy, came prominently to the 
front. It is neither desirable nor necessary to 
revive the controversy that was a disturbing 
factor among Southern Baptists twenty years 
ago, and the question would not be adverted to 
in these annals but for the fact that Mr. Powers 
167 



The Life of Rev. Walter EUis Powers. 

was Moderator of the Association on each oc- 
casion when the question was up for discussion 
and adjudication. 

As well as the author can state the question, 
it was this: Dr. Whitsitt held and taught that 
immersion was not known and practiced among 
the English Baptists till the year 1641. This 
proposition was sharply and widely challenged. 
A controversy in the religious journals was a 
prelude to the introduction of the question into 
the Association. One resolution in 1896 was 
intended to allay the agitation till Dr. Whitsitt 
could make a fuller statement in defense of his 
position. In the time, between the meeting of 
the Association in 1896 and 1897, Dr. Whitsitt 's 
little book came out. But his defense did not 
prove satisfactory, and the controversy con- 
tinned. 

However, it should be stated that there was a 
sharp controversy over the subject in the Asso 
ciation at Walnut Street Church in 1896 and 
much heat was displayed in the discussion 
When the Association met at Long Eun in 1897 
a resolution was introduced, disapproving Dr 
Whitsitt 's teachings concerning Baptist history 
On this occasion, the full strength of each side 
in the controversy was on hand. The question 
had gotten beyound the boundaries of the com- 
168 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

monwealtli and so there were visitors from other 
States. After a protracted and animated dis- 
cussion, the resolution of disapproval carried by 
a handsome majority. 

There were noble and good men on both 
sides of the controversy, and among those who 
took decided stand against Dr. "Wnitsitt's teach- 
ings, perhaps Dr. T. T. Eaton was the most 
prominent, but he had a large and able follow- 
ing of enthusiastic supporters. On the side of 
the question upholding Dr. Whitsitt in his 
teachings there were many able advocates, and 
they had the courage of their convictions. One 
of the unfortunate by-products of a heated con- 
troversy is that nearly always, in some form or 
other, personalities are injected into it and not 
infrequently a sting remains to rankle long 
after the question has been disposed of. This 
perhaps follows from the fact that some men 
cannot distinguish between the teachings of a 
man and the man himself, although a moment's 
reflection will show that many lovable men have 
held and maintained very erroneous teachings. 
Aside from the correctness or incorrectness of 
Dr. Whitsitt's position, it is generally allowed 
that he was a very lovable man. This was the 
attitude of the venerable Moderator of Long 
Run Association. He loved Dr. Whitsitt as a 
169 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

man and a Christian, brother, but he did not ap- 
prove his teachings in the controversy current 
twenty years ago. 

On two occasions the Whitsitt question 
found its way into the deliberations of the Ken- 
tucky Baptist General Association and it was 
a disturbing factor in the Southern Baptist 
Convention on more than one occasion. It was 
formally disposed of by the trustees of the 
Southern Baptist Theological Seminary by re- 
questing Dr. Whitsitt to resign and withdraw 
from the presidency of the seminary. 

Many regrettable things were said and done 
pending the decision of the question, both at 
Walnut Street Church, in 1896, and at Long 
Run, in 1897. On several occasions things 
seemed to be going at cross-purposes, but at 
no time in the proceedings did the moderator 
lose control of himself or the body over which 
he was presiding, although it did seem at times 
there was deliberate purpose to stampede him. 
During the heat of the controversy exceptions 
were made to the rulings of the chair, and an 
appeal to the body was made, but in each case 
the rulings of the moderator were sustained by 
a decided majority. 

On many subsequent occasions, and in many 
places throughout the Southland, the immediate 
170 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

aftermath of this unfortunate controversy was 
felt and greatly deplored. It looked at one 
time as though the result of it would be a cleav- 
age in our Southern Baptist Zion. But under 
wise counsel and Christian forbearance and the 
mellowing influence of time, the asperities en- 
gendered during the controversy have largely 
disappeared. Drs. Eaton and Whitsitt and our 
venerable moderator have all ceased from their 
labors and gone to be with Christ. 

The author of this biography has been more 
or less closely identified with churches, associa- 
tions and conventions for more than fifty years, 
and during that time he has witnessed many 
heated controversies concerning which he has 
nearly always had very decided convictions, and 
yet, candor compels him to admit that he has 
seldom fully understood all the ramifications of 
the questions involved, and, also the bearing 
of some great and good men has been sorely 
puzzling. I am reverently waiting for more 
light. This longing for perfect knowledge will 
be satisfied some day. 1 1 For now we see through 
a glass darkly ; but then face to face : Now I 
know in part; but then shall I know even as I 
am known. And now abideth faith, hope 
charity, these three; but the greatest of these 
is charity." 

171 



XIV. 

AFTER HE SERVED HIS OWN GENERA- 
TION, BY THE WILL OF GOD, 
HE FELL ON SLEEP. 

Mr. Powers was well advanced in his thirty- 
sixth year when he was ordained to the ministry 
in the year 1859. Soon after this important 
event he began his work as missionary evan- 
gelist and pastor, and, having put his hand to 
the plough, he drove straight ahead and 
ploughed a furrow so straight that few are able 
to parallel it. Thus he continued in his noble 
vocation till November 26, 1916, when, at the 
bidding of the Lord of the harvest, he put off 
the harness and lay down to rest. Up to the 
very time when the day of life was going away 
and the shadows of evening were stretching out, 
he was ' ' fervent in spirit, serving the Lord ; 
rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; 
continuing instant in prayer; distributing to 
the necessity of saints; given to hospitality/' 

During the many years of his active service 
in the ministry Mr. Powers had been first and 
last, pastor of sixteen churches, as follows: 
Long Run, Beechland, Jefferson town, Fischer- 
ville and Pleasant Grove, in Jefferson County; 
173 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Kings, Mt. Washington and Knob Creek, In 
Bullitt; Ballardsville and Liberty, in Oldham; 
Sligo, in Henry; Mt. Eden and Elk Creek in 
Spencer; Mt. Pleasant, Mt. Vernon and Indian 
Fork, in Shelby. 

If the author has been correctly informed, 
the termination of Mr. Powers' work, at Mt. 
Vernon, in the year 1908, was the termination 
of his official work as pastor. The closing of 
his work as pastor was not, however, the clos- 
ing of his work as preacher of the gospel. 
During the eight years immediately preceding 
his death he did a very appreciable amount of 
work in supplying churches that were tempor- 
arily without pastors, and especially during 
the summer months of this eight years, by 
special invitation, he would visit the churches 
which he had formerly served and preach for 
them once, and not infrequently twice on a 
Sunday. 

The announcement of his coming to his old 
churches was sure to bring out a record congre- 
gation and, notwithstanding his advanced age, 
on several occasions, after he had passed well 
into his ninety-third year, he would preach an 
hour without any break in the continuity of 
thought, and often in the development of his 
theme he would become impassioned and his 

174 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

voice would ring out with trumpet-like clear- 
ness. 

The ministry of Mr. Powers was conspicuous, 
not only because it extended over many years, 
but also for the quantity and quality of the 
harvest garnered. During these years he had 
witnessed the conversion of more than four 
thousand souls under his ministry, and with 
his own hands he had baptized nearly four thou- 
sands candidates for membership in the 
churches. Under his preaching twenty-nine 
young men were converted who became active 
ministers of the gospel, "nearly all of whom 
were baptized by him. And so now, while his 
lifeless body rests under the sod, awaiting the 
coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall 
change our vile body, that it may be fashioned 
like unto his glorious body, these young men 
who came under the magnetic touch of this man 
of God, are still preaching the blessed gospel, 
and the work of our venerable brother goes on, 
bearing precious fruit. 

In the year 1894, Mr. Powers' noble wife 
laid down the burden of life and entered into 
the rest prepared for the people of God, and 
for the next eight or nine years, his daughters, 
Mrs. Slead and Mrs. Thompson, had the care of 
his home where he had lived so many years, 
175 



The Life of Eev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

and they did all that was possible to make him 
forget the bereavement he had sustained in the 
homegoing of the noble woman whom he 
regarded as a special gift from God, who was 
the mother of his children and who, for half a 
century had been friend, companion and help- 
mate to her husband. And only when the books 
are opened in heaven and their records revealed, 
will it be fully known how much she contributed 
to his happiness and the success of his work as 
pastor and evangelist. 

About the year 1898, Mr. Powers broke up 
housekeeping and went to make his home with 
his son, Dr. Jas. Gr. Powers, at Fairfield. From 
there he would go occasionally to visit the 
churches which he formerly served; also he 
would frequently make prolonged visits to his 
other children whose homes were always open 
to him and when beneath their roof, children 
and grandchildren vied with each other in an- 
ticipating his wants and ministering to his com- 
fort. 

When Mr. Powers' friends met him at the 
association, in Louisville, September 21 and 22, 
1916, he was still active in body and alert of 
mind. There was nothing to indicate that the 
time of his homegoing was so near. They did 
not know that this was the last occasion when 
176 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

he would preside over the association, whose 
interests and prosperity had occupied so large 
a place in his affections for more than half a 
century. However, within a few weeks the 
venerable moderator, who had been so great a 
factor in the work of Long Run Association, 
began to feel the encroachments of disease. 
Then his friends heard, with alarm, that pneu- 
monia had set in. The end is near. The long 
day of service is drawing to a close. The shad- 
ows of evening are stretching out. The night 
cometh. The Lord lays His hand gently on 
his faithful servant. The rythmic beating of 
that great heart stops. He sleeps! He entered 
into rest November 26, 1916, aged 92 years, 5 
months. Nearly all the churches which he had 
served took formal notice of the homegoing of 
their beloved pastor. Many letters were re- 
ceived by his children from friends and 
admirers who ardently loved him and counted 
it a joy to have come in touch with him. 

On Monday morning, the day immediately 
following Mr. Powers' death, the Baptist Pas- 
tors' Conference, in Louisville, went on record 
in the following resolutions : 

"Seeing that the All-wise God, in whose 
keeping are we all, has seen fit in His sovereign 
wisdom to call our friend and brother, the Rev. 
177 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

W. E. Powers, home from the walks of men and 
the labors of this life, we, therefore, the mem- 
bers of the Louisville Baptist Pastors' Confer- 
ence, in session, Monday, November 27, 1916, do 
unanimously resolve : 

"That in his homegoiiig we have lost a 
father in Israel, a friend and counselor, whose 
wisdom and tactful fellowship never failed us, 
and a pattern of Godliness that was a constant 
source of inspiration in our labors; 

"That the cause of Jesus Christ in general, 
and of the Baptists in particular, has lost a 
stalwart defender, an illustrious exponent, and 
an advocate of tireless devotion ; 

"That the community at large has last one 
of the greatest blessings of life, namely, the 
benign and purifying influence of a man whose 
body, mind and spirit had been for many years 
joyously laid on the altar of Christian service; 

"That a committee composed of H. L. Win- 
burn, M. P. Hunt, and G. D. Billeisen be in- 
structed to convey our feeling of sympathy and 
our fellowship in their loss, to his family; and 
that copies of these resolutions be furnished the 
family and the religious press." 

H. L. Winburn, 
Committee. M. P. Hunt, 

W. W. Landrum. 
178 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

The funeral services took place in the Bap- 
tist Church at Simpsonville, Tuesday morning, 
and were in charge of Dr. J. W. Porter, an in- 
timate friend of many years. The services were 
simple, wholly without ostentation as was be- 
coming. They consisted of the reading of the 
Scriptures, the singing of the hymns the old 
pastor loved, testimonials of appreciation from 
those who had known him and loved him. Not 
a speech, save one, extended beyond five min- 
utes. Those who took part in the services were : 
T. A. Johnson, M. P. Hunt, H. L. Winburn, W. 
W. Landrum, A. N. White, E. C. Stevens, E. 
H. Blakeman. 

It was proper that Dr. Porter, who had 
known Brother Powers so intimately, admired 
him so greatly and loved him so ardently, 
should speak more at length. He appraised, 
very highly, but none too highly, the worth of 
this father in Israel. His name deserves to 
be writ large among the heroes of faith. 

The day was very inclement, but a great 
crowd of people braved the storm to pay this last 
tribute of respect to their old pastor and friend. 
Nearly all the churches which he had formerly 
served were represented in the congregation. 
They came from countryside, nearby towns, 
Shelbyville, Lexington and Louisville. They 
179 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

came not to mourn. It was no occasion for 
tears, except for tears of joy in the power of 
God's love. They came to show their loving 
pride in their dead pastor, their gratitude for 
his noble life, their joy in his triumphant home- 
going and his abundant entrance into the ever- 
lasting Kingdom. 

He leaves to his brethren in the ministry 
an inspiring example of diligence in service, 
fidelity to convictions, and loyalty to the truth. 
He leaves to his friends and children a heritage 
of sweet and noble memories. 

"Now the laborer's task is o'er: 
Now the battle day is past; 
Now upon the farther shore 
Lands the voyager at last. 
Father, in thy gracious keeping, 
Leave we now thy servant sleeping. 

"There the tears of earth are dried ; 

There its hidden things are clear; 
There the work of life is tried 
By a juster Judge than here. 
Father, in thy gracious keeping, 
Leave we now thy servant sleeping. 

"There the sinful souls that turn 
To the cross their dying eyes, 
All the love of Christ shall learn 
At his feet in Paradise. 
1*0 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Father, in thy gracious keeping, 
Leave we now thy servant sleeping. 

" 'Earth to earth, and dust to dust,' 

Calmly now the words we say; 
Leaving him to sleep in trust, 
Till the resurrection-day. 
Father, in thy gracious keeping, 
Leave we now thy servant sleeping.' 1 



181 



XV. 
INTERESTING EPISODES. 

Repartee is a dangerous weapon ; like a two- 
edged sword, it cuts both ways. In the mouth 
of a man with an acid heart, repartee is abrupt, 
darting, scornful and tosses its analogies in 
one's face and is just as likely to wound a 
friend as lay an enemy. The genial hearted 
poet, Cowper, says: 

"A man renowned for repartee will seldom 
scruple to make free with friendship's finest 
feelings." 

Humor, on the other hand, is indirect in its 
approach, slow and shy, insinuating its fun into 
the heart. However, when both wit and humor 
are met with in a big hearted man, we have an 
ideal combination. These two characteristics 
were very prominent in the make-up of Mr. 
Powers' mental processes. His resourcefulness 
was proverbial and rarely failed him, but his 
genial heart saved him from caustic witticisms. 

Just incidentally, Sam B. Royster, a friend 

of many years' standing, met him at the Post 

Office one morning and greeted him thus: 

"Good morning, Brother Powers, I see you are 

183 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

going to have a new coat soon. " " How is that ? ' ' 
said Brother Powers. "I see a worm on. your 
sleeve taking your measure for a new suit of 
clothes." "I've got no faith in that worm, but 
I have some in the fellow that found him." 
The rejoinder was so neat, so apposite and came 
out with such spontaneity that Mr. Royster 
handed him a ten dollar bill, saying that it 
would help some toward the new suit of 
clothes. 

Mr. Powers told an interesting story of his 
experience in connection with a church belong- 
ing to the persuasion, which in its origin, about 
a hundred years ago, was called the Current 
Reformation, but now officially recognized as 
the Disciples Church. This story illustrates the 
quick-wittedness of our hero as well as his recog- 
nition of his own rights and his resourcefulness 
in extricating himself from what might have 
been a very embarrassing situation. Also this 
incident shows how disingenuously some people 
are wont to set traps for the unwary. In going 
to and from one of his regular appointments, 
Mr. Powers was accustomed to passing a Dis- 
ciple church, many of whose members were his 
neighbors and friends, and they were also more 
or less regular attendants on the services at the 
Baptist church. These friends had frequently 

184 



The Life of Rev. 'Walter Ellis Powers. 

invited Mr. Powers to preach for them in re- 
turning to his home in the afternoon. He was 
not eager to comply with this request, knowing 
the radically different views held by the Bap- 
tists and Disciples on fundamental doctrines, 
and so he had hitherto declined several invita- 
tions to preach for them. However, their re- 
peated requests prevailed and he made an en- 
gagement to preach for them one Sunday after- 
noon at three o'clock. The appointment was an- 
nounced at his own church in the morning, and 
when he arrived on the ground he was not sur- 
prised to find a large congregation awaiting 
him, composed of both Baptists and Disciples. 
But when he entered the house he was surprised 
and chagrined to see bread and wine on the 
table and preparations made to celebrate the 
ordinance of the Lord's Supper. But the 
preacher on this occasion was not to be caught 
in the snare, so disingenuously set for him. He 
frankly told the friends who had invited him to 
preach that he had charge of the services on 
this particular occasion, and that it was not 
an appropriate time to celebrate the ordinance 
of the Lord's Supper. So he entered the pulpit, 
preached his sermon, and dismissed the congre- 
gation without any further reference to the dis- 
ingenuous conduct of his friends. The people 
185 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

dispersed to their homes and no further attempt 
was made to administer the ordinance. 

During the war between the states, more 
than fifty years ago, Edwin Gardner Berry, a 
short sketch of whose life and work has been 
given in a foregoing chapter, was pastor of the 
Baptist church in Lagrange. Partisan feeling 
ran high in those days, and adherents for both 
the North and the South were nearly always in 
evidence in most communities in Kentucky. It 
is hardly necessary to say there were no neutrals 
concerning the issues involved. Every man, 
woman and child had views about current events 
and it took very little provocation to bring their 
views to the front. Prejudices were strong and 
friendships of many years' standing were 
broken to be healed with difficulty after the war- 
clouds were blown away. This was the situation 
at Lagrange when the church and pastor invited 
Mr. Powers to hold a meeting of days with 
them. Knowing that his own political views did 
not accord with the views of many people in the 
community where he was requested to labor, he 
accepted the invitation with some misgivings, 
well aware that the disturbing questions of the 
day were more than likely to be injected into 
the conversation in any social circle where he 
might find himself. However, he went, like 
186 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis rowers. 

Abraham of old, not knowing what awaited 
him, but purposing in his heart to exercise all 
possible tact and practice forbearance to the ut- 
most limits consistent with self-respect and loy- 
alty to his own convictions. On several occa- 
sions the conversation approached perilously 
near the danger line, but by skillful maneuver- 
ing unpleasant complications were avoided. How- 
ever, one man, more persistent than wise, made 
a direct effort to lead Mr. Powers to declare 
himself, as to his approval or disapproval of 
secession, but our hero sidetracked the question 
by saying that inasmuch as the devil had so 
large a following in the world, his politics just 
then was to have all those who had been 
hitherto marching under the banner of his 
satanic majesty in Lagrange to secede from his 
army and come over on the Lord's side and 
swell the ranks of Prince Immanuel's hosts. 
And he stressed the fact that his object in com- 
ing to the community was not political, but re- 
ligious, and that he was then acting in the 
capacity of recruiting officer for the Lord, and 
he did not think it wise to turn aside to the 
discussion of irrelevant issues. Thus by turn- 
ing the thoughts to things religious he avoided 
a discussion that would have injured the meet- 
187 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Towers. 

ing and which would not have been otherwise 
profitable. 

Something over thirty years ago Elk Creek 
Church divided over the calling of a pastor. 
When the name of a certain preacher was pre- 
sented to the church, about one-half of the mem- 
bers cast their votes for him. About as many 
of the members and just as worthy in all the 
essentials of character and ability, were de- 
cidedly against the man whose name had been 
presented. Those who were opposed to him 
would not yield their objections, and those who 
wanted him to become their pastor were equally 
tenacious as to their choice. After several un- 
successful efforts to compromise, it was thought 
advisable for the church to divide and form two 
congregations rather than try to live together 
in a constant turmoil. The result was two con- 
gregations and each one calling itself by the 
name of Elk Creek Church. They divided the 
use of the meeting house, each congregation 
occupying it two Sundays in each month. They 
had two pastors, two Bibles, two sets of hymn 
books. 

Thus they went on for ten years when Bro. 
Powers was called to the pastorate of one of the 
congregations. He accepted the pastorate with 
the avowed and well-known purpose of effecting 

188 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

a union between the two churches, a consum- 
mation devoutly wished for by both congrega- 
tions, but hardly hoped for by many of the best 
members in each church. However, within less 
than two years the union was an accomplished 
fact, and where for more than ten years there 
had been two churches, now there was only one 
to the great joy of all concerned, and also to 
the great advantage of the Kingdom in that 
community. The wished-for ending of the 
alienation came about on thiswise: Brother 
Powers had the confidence of both congrega- 
tions, and all the members of each church, irre- 
spective of the division, came to hear him 
preach. He studiously avoided saying anything 
in his sermons that would accentuate the fact 
that two congregations were worshipping in the 
same house. He mingled freely among them as 
though they were all members of the church 
which had called him, and during his regular 
visits to the community he as often spent the 
nights in the homes of one congregation as in 
the other. There had been no jarring among 
them during his minsitry, and yet only incident- 
ally and indirectly had he broached the subject 
of uniting the two churches. In the course of 
the second year of his pastorate among them, 
one of the prominent members of the congrega- 
189 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Poivers, 

tion of which he was not pastor sickened and 
died, and Brother Powers was requested to con- 
duct the funeral services on the occasion of his 
burial. Members of both congregations were 
present in about equal numbers, and an equal 
number of brethren from each congregation 
acted as pallbearers. All had confidence in the 
integrity and Christian character of the de- 
ceased brother and all realized that the com- 
munity had sustained a decided loss. And while 
they were all saddened and chastened by their 
loss, Brother Powers began to make definite 
efforts to effect a union between the two 
churches. And he was glad to find that they all 
recognized the desirableness of union and were 
willing to talk the matter over to see if they 
could find any common ground on which they 
could stand to effect the desired end. As a 
first step the two congregations agreed to call 
in two other pastors and refer the matter to 
them in the hope of effecting the union. Now 
it is a remarkable fact that each church, with- 
out the knowledge of the other's action, chose 
the late beloved Dr. T. T. Eaton as: referee. 
However, when it became known that each party 
had chosen Dr. Eaton, one party waved its 
claim and invited to the conference the late Dr. 
W. W. Gardner, who was greatly esteemed by 
190 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

all those who knew him. When the referees met 
at the meeting house at the time appointed, they 
did not find a difficult task before them. In 
paving the way for this conference Brother 
Powers had virtually accomplished the desired 
end before the meeting took plaice. Happily all 
difficulties were overcome and the two churches 
again became one, and the occasion proved to 
be a genuine lovefeast. Dr. W. L. Pickard, 
then a student in the- Seminary, now president 
of Mercer University, was pastor of one con- 
gregation. Henceforth there would be needed 
only one pastor for the re-united church, and 
as each division of the church was warmly at- 
tached to its preacher, there was a possibility of 
a difference of opinion as to which of the two 
brethren should continue to minister to the 
church. However, if any one was in doubt 
about the matter he was not held in suspense 
very long. When the union had been accom- 
plished and the fact formally announced, Bro. 
Powers promptly tendered his resignation and 
Bro. Pickard became pastor of the united 
church. When the two congregations had be- 
come united, the salary of Bro. Pickard for the 
current year had already been provided for by 
the congregation to which he had been preach- 
ing and some of the prominent members of this 
191 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

wing of the church went to the other wing of 
the church and suggested that they pay Bro. 
Powers the stipulated salary for the current 
year. The suggestion was heartily approved, and 
Bro. Powers received his salary, though he did 
not continue to preach for them. That was an 
act of generosity worthy of all praise for those 
who conceived the idea of it as well as those who 
carried it into execution. Thus it came about 
that for the first time in his career as a preacher 
Bro. Powers received a stipend for work which 
he had not performed. 

Many years ago, it was the custom of the 
General Association, during the closing hours 
of its session, to have the oldest and youngest 
pastors present relate their Christian experience. 
Such occasions were replete with glorious pos- 
sibilities, and they often became veritable love- 
feasts and sent the messengers back to the 
churches with rejoicing because of the power of 
God's grace in the hearts of men. Is it "a cus- 
tom more honored in the breach thau the ob- 
servance"? In the judgment of this writer, 
the discontinuance of the custom is a distinct- 
ive loss to our denominational life. 

There is good precedent for its observance. 
Bunyan's pilgrim, in his journey from the city 
of destruction to the New Jerusalem, improved 
192 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

many a minute in telling of the Lord's dealings 
with. him. Indeed, the immortal allegory is 
nothing more or less than Bunyan's Christian 
experience, told with the skill of the consum- 
mate artist. In an hour of rapturous emotion, 
David lifts up his voice and cries: "Come and 
hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare 
what he hath done for my soul." To have the 
last seven chapters of the Acts of the apostles 
omitted from the records of the early churches 
would be a distinct and irreparable loss. And 
in what does their great value consist? They 
are hardly anything more than the Christian 
experience of the great apostle, told by him- 
self before the Sanhedrim, and the mob in Jeru- 
salem and before Festus, Felix and Agrippa at 
Caesarea. 

Brother Powers tells of one instance when 
the simple relation of a Christian experience 
elect rified the heart of every one present. The 
occasion was when the General Association met, 
the first time in Louisville after the close of the 
war between the States more than fifty years 
ago. While the Southern army had stacked 
their arms and those in authority had formally 
accepted the arbitrament of the sword, there 
was still a pronounced lack of cordiality be- 
tween the people in Kentucky who held antag- 
193 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

onistic opinions during the conflict. Deep- 
seated prejudices still prevailed in all ranks of 
society, and the alienation was so marked that 
the churches, both laymen and pastors, were so 
handicapped that active co-operation in the 
prosecution of the benevolent enterprises 
usually fostered by the Baptists was almost en- 
tirely wanting. The recital of the Christian ex- 
perience of one pastor did more to allay the as- 
perities of the brethren than a hundred formal 
sermons on the importance of brethren dwelling 
together in unity. The pastor who so effectively 
told of his conversion and the Lord's dealings 
with him was the late Green Clay Smith, a fed- 
eral general during the war and also an ex. 
member of the Congress of the United States. 
Though not the youngest pastor in the Associa- 
tion, his conversion and ordination to the min- 
istry were recent occurrences, and in this re- 
spect, he was a junior. General Smith's state- 
ment was preceded by that of Rev. Robert 
"Williams, an old pastor, who had an honorable 
record in the ministry, and the recital of his 
Christian experience was listened to with ab- 
sorbing interest. Then followed that of Gen. 
Smith, whose political views and activities dur- 
ing the war had been decidedly out of harmony 
194 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

with the majority of the members of the Asso- 
ciation. 

As nearly as can be recalled by Brother- 
Powers, his statement was as follows: 

"Brethren, you all know something about 
me and the manner of life I have lived. I have 
dabbled a good deal in politics, was at one time 
a member of Congress, and I was a general in 
the Federal army during the war. You know a 
great deal about me that is not creditable; in- 
deed, much that is quite discreditable, and I 
speak of it with the deepest contrition. I won- 
der that the Lord did not become impatient and 
cut me off long since. But he didn't, and I am 
glad today that he exercised forbearance, for I 
was not fit to die. On one occasion when I was 
in the mountains of Kentucky, I saw people 
gathering as if for worship. Curiosity or some- 
thing else led me to join them. I entered the 
house, a very rude structure and with poor ac- 
commodations. The preacher was a mountain 
man whose name was Edwards. His scholastic 
attainments were manifestly meager and his use 
of the Queen's English could not have met the 
approval of Lindley Murray. But he was an 
orator. I have heard the greatest orators in 
Kentucky on the hustings and in our courts 
of justice. I have heard the great men in both 
195 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

houses of Congress, but I was never moved as 
this man moved me. He preached about man's 
need of salvation and the divine provision for 
that need. I was spell-bound. For a time, I 
could not move. He set before me a picture of 
my life, and my sins stared me in the face. I 
fully realized my condition. I trembled greatly 
and felt that I was indeed lost. But before he 
closed, he told of the divine plan, whereby, 
though lost, a man could be saved, and then and 
there I accepted Christ as my Saviour. I felt 
so overjoyed and my heart was so full of grat- 
itude, I determined that henceforth I would 
spend my days in telling others what great 
things Christ has done for me, and of his will- 
ingness and ability to save them. And now, 
brethren, I want to live with you and be one of 
you if you will let me. If I can, I want to help 
you, and I shall need your help." 

Before General Smith had finished his re- 
cital, almost everyone's eyes were suffused with 
tears, and when he had done, there was a spon- 
taneous and simultaneous movement from all 
parts of the congregation toward the speaker in 
the van of which movement was our hero, and 
they gave him their hands and put their arms 
around him and, so to speak, kept them there as 
long as General Smith lived. Brother Powers 
196 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

says that nothing but the workings of God's 
grace in the heart could have produced such a 
scene as was witnessed on that memorable oc- 
casion; doubtless he is right. 

In the year 1882, Mr. Powers, by invitation, 
went to Lebanon, Texas, to hold a meeting with 
the Baptist Church of which Dr. Kimbrough 
was pastor. When the invitation was first re- 
ceived, husband and wife and children contem- 
plated that Mrs. Powers should accompany our 
hero on this journey. However, the morning 
having arrived when they were to start, Mrs. 
Powers was taken suddenly sick, and it looked 
as though she would have to abandon the trip. 
But the opportunity for such a visit and outing 
did not often come her way, and her daughters 
would not accept the idea of their mother not 
going with their father. So they dressed her, 
and father and mother were conveyed to the 
train, and soon they were on their journey to 
the Lone Star State. At home, Mrs. Powers 
was subject to spells of violent sick headache 
every week. Altogether, they were absent from 
home a month or more, yet it is a remarkable 
fact that neither in going nor coming, nor while 
in Texas, was Mrs. Powers sick for one hour. 
She attended all the meetings, day and night, 
197 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

and was in many ways helpful to the services 
and especially to her husband. 

Mr. Powers had never met Dr. Kimbrough, 
the pastor of the Baptist church in Lebanon, 
and only knew from reputation that he was re- 
garded as one of the ablest preachers in Texas. 
Before leaving home, our hero gave a little 
more than usual attention to his wearing ap- 
parel and donned a new suit of clothes from 
head to foot; but the most remarkable feature 
of Ins outfit was a silk tile, vulgarly called a 
chimney-pot, with which he had adorned his 
head. It is doubtful whether Mr. Powers 
would have given so much attention to his 
dress if he had known as much about Texas be- 
fore starting on his journey as he learned soon 
after arriving there. 

Be that as it may, when he first entered the 
house of worship in which the meetings were 
to be held, the congregation had already assem- 
bled and the pastor also w r as there from whom 
our hero, not unnaturally expected a warm wel- 
come, but his lively anticipation was doomed to 
disappointment and his enthusiasm was mo- 
mentarily chilled. In walking down the aisle, 
Mr. Powers did not make any special effort to 
conceal his new silk hat. Of course, the pastor 
greeted him and extended his hand in welcome, 
198 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

but to the visiting brother the whole perform- 
ance was very formal and seemed to come 
from afar off. Mr. Powers did not immediately 
divine the situation, and he was for a while 
very much mystified. He preached the best he 
could, but not with his usual freedom and en- 
thusiasm. However, when the congregation 
was dismissed and the men began to reach for 
their hats, including the pastor, he noticed that 
their hats were all alike and known as the 
Texas hat. A light dawned on our hero and he 
was not disobedient to it. That day, he went 
to dine with a certain doctor of medicine and as 
soon as he could get his ear, he said to him: 
"Doctor, is there a store in town where I can 
get a Texas hat ? ' ' — emphasis on the word Texas 
— the doctor laughingly said: "What do you 
want with a Texas hat? You already have a 
very good hat and it seems to me one hat is 
enough for a preacher. However, if you wish 
to wear a Texas hat, I will show you where you 
can get one.'' "That night when I walked into 
the church, I kept my hat on till I reached the 
pulpit. It was a Texas hat, and I wanted them 
all to see it; for they all wore hats alike." The 
pastor came forward very promptly and greeted 
the visiting preacher warmly and at close range, 
and while heartily grasping his hand, said : 
199 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

"You will do, Brother Powers, you have got 
common sense. That silk hat would never do 
here in Texas." 

From that time, the meeting moved on glo- 
riously. Both pastor and people gave their 
ardent and unremitting support. The church 
was greatly revived, many souls were converted 
and thirty-one members were received into the 
fellowship of the church on profession of faith 
in Christ and by baptism. At the time of this 
meeting, the church had no house of worship, 
but immediately steps were taken to erect one. 
Among those who were very active in promot- 
ing the building enterprise was Bob Yeager, a 
nephew of Mr. Powers, who had been converted 
during the meeting. And he looked upon the 
circumstances of his uncle's coming to Texas as 
a special providence to bring about his conver- 
sion. He had been very prosperous in his busi- 
ness, and now he willingly gave of his money, 
time and business qualifications to the further- 
ance of building a church, and so diligently 
was the building enterprise prosecuted, that 
within the next year Mr. Powers was again in- 
vited to go to Texas to dedicate the new house 
of worship, which was an elegant and commodi- 
ous building and well adapted to the wants of 
a growing community. On this occasion, also 
200 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers, 

the meeting was protracted for several days, 
the church was much revived and many souls 
were converted. 



201 



REMINISCENCES CONCERNING THE 
LATE DR. W. E. POWERS. 

By J. S. Gatton. 

Brethren, "Know ye not that there is a 
prince and a great man fallen this day in Is- 
rael?" The old patriarch whose name appears 
at the head of this article was truly a great 
man in Zion. Brother W. E. Powers professed 
faith in Christ, as his personal Saviour, when 
quite a small bey, during a meeting held with 
the old Dover Church, Shelby County. The 
meeting was held by two eminent evangelists. 
The only visible result of the meeting was the 
conversion and baptism of little. Wat Powers. 
The great preachers turned away from the bat- 
tle ground feeling that their two weeks' labors 
were almost in vain. The consensus of opinion 
was that the meeting was a failure — "only little 
Wat Powers was converted." I doubt if that 
old historic church ever held a meeting more 
honoring to God. Eternity alone can reveal the 
results wrought, under God, through this one 
little converted boy. This obscure youth, as he 
was considered, grew up to manhood and en- 
tered business life, but soon abandoned the fas- 
203 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Poivers. 

cinating charms of money-making and entered 
the gospel ministry, and for sixty odd years 
wrought in the Master's vineyard as but few 
men of his generation. He soon became a skil- 
ful workman, and was greatly in demand by 
churches in quest of capable pastors. He never 
sought easy places and fat salaries,- but where 
Grod opened the door he entered and endured 
hardness as a good soldier. During his long 
and laborious ministry he was pastor in Shelby, 
Spencer, Bullitt, Jefferson, Oldham and Henry 
Counties. As pastor-evangelist, he held meet- 
ings all over these counties and also in other 
parts of the State. He was well equipped for 
his work. He was not educated after the fash- 
ion of the schools, but being blessed with a 
strong native intellect, a keen analytical mind, 
a good memory, plenty of good sense, by dili- 
gent and persistent application, he became a 
master workman, a preacher of unusual power, 
a man of strong spiritual force. He and the 
late Dr. J. H. Spencer were co-laborers in evan- 
gelistic work. They were admirably adapted to 
ea«h other. Spencer excelled as an expositor 
of the Scriptures, and Powers followed his mas- 
terful sermons with the most appropriate, ten- 
der, persuasive and heart-stirring exhortations. 
When these two men were rightly harnessed up 
204 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

together, they were, under God, well-nigh irre- 
sistible. At the close of one of their meetings 
with. Brother Powers' church, a well-to-do 
brother gave him twenty-five cents, saying, 
"Give this to Brother Spencer, with my love." 
Brother Powers said as quick as thought : ' ' No, 
keep your quarter and your love ; I would not 
burden Brother Spencer with so much money 
and so much love, it might embarrass him." 
The brother went away with his quarter. When 
the meeting closed the next year, with the same 
church, this brother gave Brother Powers five 
dollars for himself and five dollars for Brother 
Spencer, saying: "I am heartily ashamed of 
what I did last year. I did not think. ' ' Brother 
Powers said: "Blessed is the man who thinks." 
That brother was a most liberal supporter of 
the gospel from that day to the day of his 
death. I had the happiness to assist this peer- 
less pastor and evangelist in a number of his 
churches. It was a benediction to be with him; 
he was so original in his methods and thought, 
so cheerful, so witty, so tactful, so charming in 
the home and so pathetic and persuasive in urg- 
ing men, in Christ's stead, to be reconciled to 
God, that I loved him, it seemed to me, as Jona- 
than loved David. A little girl said one day : lt I 
had rather hear Brother Powers cry a sermon 
205 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Poivers. 

than to hear most preachers preach a sermon/' 
It is well known that for nearly forty years, 
he was the honored Moderator of the largest and 
most prominent association in the State, Long 
Run. He was a ripe parliamentarian. He dis- 
patched business 1 with ease and grace. He was 
equal to any emergency that might arise. Upon 
one occasion, when the Association was in ses- 
sion with the Plum Creek Church, in Spencer 
County, a little troublesome brother was much 
in evidence. He was constantly rising to a 
point of order, and to a question of personal 
privilege and to ask for information for his 
own benefit ; very much to the annoyance of the 
Association. On the morning of the second day 
of the meeting, at ten o'clock, the pastor an- 
nounced preaching at the stand to begin in a 
few minutes. The troublesome brother sprang 
up and said: "Brother Moderator, will you 
please inform the people how far it is to the 
stand and how long it will take to walk there ? ' ' 
The Moderator said, as quick as a flash : " I am 
not here, sir, to measure distances or to judge 
of the locomotion of bipeds. I am here to pre- 
side over the deliberations of this body," and 
brought his gavel down on the table with a 
bang, and said: "Proceed, brethren, with the 
business of the hour." It need not be said, it 
206 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

was some minutes before the brethren could 
proceed. 

Brother Powers was a man of strong convic- 
tions, and he had the courage of his convictions. 
He was never on the fence concerning any 
question of orthodoxy or church polity. He ad- 
hered closely to the "old paths, where is the 
good way and walked therein." On one occa- 
sion, a number of brethren were talking about 
Baptist beliefs and peculiarities, etc. One 
brother said he did "not see any need of Bap- 
tists being so hide-bound, so rigid, so dogmatic, 
in their views — we ought to be more pliable, 
sweet-spirited and lenient towards others, if we 
expect to win them. The world has outgrown 
the rigid views of our fathers. ' ' Brother Powers 
replied, ironically: "Yes, I have thought for 
some time that the spirit of the age has out- 
grown many of the plain passages of Scripture. 
For instance," said he, "Be thou faithful unto 
death and I will give thee a crown of life. The 
world has outgrown that passage; it ought to 
read, Be thou sweet-spirited and pliable unto 
death and I will give thee a crown of life. We 
need a new translation." He ever contended 
for the- once delivered faith. 

The faith of this man of God reminded me 
of what is said in the 11th chapter of Hebrews 
207 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

concerning the faith of the Patriarchs and 
Prophets. He just took God at His word and 
stood right on His promises. He believed with 
all his heart that God did all things well. He 
was greatly blessed in the wife whom God gave 
him. She stood as a tower of strength, by his 
side, through their entire married life. She 
was a home builder. She kept her house in per- 
fect order, and left her impress upon her chil- 
dren, who brought much happiness into the 
lives of their beloved parents. Sister Powers 
made it possible for her husband to achieve such 
signal victories in the Master's vinej^ard. Her 
reward will be as great as his, for, "As his part 
is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his 
part be that tarrieth by the stuff. ' ' 

It was my sad privilege to preach the fu- 
neral sermon of this good woman. I felt no 
trepidation, whatever, in speaking of her noble, 
self-sacrificing and beautiful Christian life. 
Poor Brother Powers was overcome with grief. 
As he followed her lifeless body out of the 
house, he said, amid heart-rending sobs, "The 
light of the home has gone out.'' And, when 
loving hands had laid her remains away be- 
neath a bank of roses to await the resurrection 
of the just, he said: "The Lord gave and the 
Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of 
208 




Nancy Eeeis Powers, mother of W. E. Powers 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

the Lord." He turned away from where he 
had laid his heart 's treasure to tread the rest of 
the journey of life alone, alone. His zeal in the 
Lord's business never abated. He came down 
to the end of his mortal life in full assurance 
that " There was laid up for him a crown of 
righteousness, which the Lord the righteous 
judge would give him." He has left the walks 
of men and entered upon a higher and more 
sublime state of existence, bequeathing to his 
dear children a legacy far more valuable than 
rubies — a beautiful Christian character — a life 
eminently worthy of emulation. 

Servant of Christ, well done, 
Praise be thy new employ, 

And while eternal ages run, 
Rest in thy Saviour's joy. 

REV. WALTER ELLIS POWERS. 
By J. W. Porter, D.D. 
In the death of this aged warrior, our de- 
nomination loses one of its most useful men 
and ministers. Though in the ninety-third year 
of his age, his step was steady, his eye undim- 
med and Ms mind unclouded. We have never 
known anyone of his remarkable age whose fac- 
ulties of mind and body were so little impaired 
by the ravages of time. 

209 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

He had witnessed the passing of three gen- 
erations of Baptists, and for man's full allotted 
time, had been a forceful factor in the life and 
history of our people. He was a contemporary 
of Alexander Campbell, and probably did as 
much as any other preacher of his day to stay 
the tide of Campbellism in our Commonwealth. 
Many of our churches and multitudes of men 
and women were saved to the faith by his splen- 
did preaching of the doctrines of grace. 

In the anti-mission storm, which swept in 
desolating fury over our State, he stood as an 
oak on the storm-swept hills, laughing at the 
lightnings of man's wrath, and defying the 
thunderbolts of a false faith. Not a few of our 
churches are today missionary bodies on ac- 
count of his earniest contention at a critical pe- 
riod of our history. 

Of his many gifts and graces, the one that 
probably impressed us most was his child-like 
faith in Christ. If he ever staggered at the 
promises, or faltered in his faith, it was never 
known by even his most intimate friends. He 
not only believed God, but committed his life 
for time and eternity to his keeping. He was 
willing to walk with God, even though the way 
were wrapped in darkness. He walked by faith 
with Christ as his only compass, and the Holy 
210 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Spirit his all-sufficient guide. As was said of 
the worthies of old, "These all died in faith/' 
so may we today say, "Walter Ellis Powers 
died in faith and in the faith once for all deliv- 
ered to the saints." 

He not only possessed the faith, but declared 
it from the pulpit. Endowed by nature with 
an unusually bright and discriminating mind, 
he preached the truth with a pungency and 
power that is rarely equaled. Perhaps the most 
striking characteristic of his preaching was his 
splendid originality. Few men have been so 
blessed in thought, expression and style. 

True, his preaching was dogmatic, yea, 
more, divinely dogmatic. He knew the Lord 
had forgiven his sins, therefore he could preach 
with mathematical certainty that God could and 
would forgive sin. His confidence was conta- 
gious and his assurance inspiring. 

The keynote of his preaching was salvation 
by grace, according to the elective purposes of 
God. He was not ashamed of the Gospel, there- 
fore found it unnecessary to apologize for his 
preaching. In his veins flowed the blood of 
martyrs and he would have gladly died for the 
doctrine. 

Though he preached the distinctive doctrines 
of his denomination, those who differed with him 
211 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

were inclined neither to criticise nor to censure. 
He loved truth, and hence hated error, and his 
love for the one equaled his hatred for the 
other. He never asked for admiration, he chal- 
lenged it; he never sought confidence, but com- 
manded it. 

He lived an unsullied life, and through all 
the years of his pilgrimage, there was never the 
breath of slander or taint of suspicion. With 
his transparent candor and rugged grandeur, 
reproach was impossible. 

Were it within our power, we would not 
flatter the deathless dead, and we weigh our 
words when we say that Kentucky Baptists owed 
him as much as or more than anyone now among 
us. Many young ministers, whose lives and 
thinking were touched by his life, will perpetu- 
ate his life and labors in the coming years. Our 
own life is richer, and our loyalty to Christ 
greater because we knew and loved this mighty 
man. One of his last messages, and one we shall 
ever cherish, was "Tell Porter I love him; he 
knows what I stand for." Yes, we knew his 
unflinching fidelity to the Master, and feel that 
we know where he now stands 1 — glorified in the 
presence of Him whom he so faithfully served. 

He leaves to his loved ones the greatest herit- 
age that can be bequeathed to mortal man — a 

212 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

stainless name and a life unreservedly given to 
the Lord. 

A VENERABLE GUEST AND A 
MEMORABLE OCCASION. 

On October 28, 1912, the ladies of the Crest- 
wood Baptist Church gave a birthday party to 
Grandma Enoch, who was that day eighty years 
old. It was intended to be exclusive. No gen- 
tlemen were expected to be present. However, 
Brother Powers happened to be in the neigh- 
borhood at that time, and, in the nature of 
things, it was thought proper to make an ex- 
ception in his case, and have him present. He 
had been the pastor of this mother in Israel 
many years at Long Run. And his presence 
was a real contribution to the occasion. 

Some time in the spring of 1914, Brother 
Powers, in conversation with some friends, re- 
marked that such a recognition of friendship 
and love as that given Mrs. Enoch, while she 
was still living, is worth more than a cart-load 
of flowers piled on her grave after she is dead. 

The remark was not lost on the friends who 
heard it. Thus it came about within a few days 
the suggestion was made at the Baptist Pastors' 
Conference in Louisville that it would be a fit- 
ting thing for the pastors and churches in Long 
213 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Potvers. 

Run Association to celebrate in some appropri- 
ate manner the ninetieth anniversary of the 
birthday of our venerable Moderator. The sug- 
gestion was heartily approved, and a committee 
was appointed to make arrangements for the 
contemplated occasion. But his friends in and 
about Louisville were not the only ones who 
were thinking of the matter. Without any 
knowledge of what others were doing, Mrs. Belle 
Foss Moorman wrote from far off DeLancl, 
Florida, suggesting a birthday party for 
Brother Powers and, to that end, sent one dol- 
lar. Thus it came about that arrangements 
were made for the celebration of his birthday 
on the 26th day of June, 1914, when he had 
rounded out ninety years. In the form of a 
souvenir, Col. Thos. D. Osborne, an intimate 
friend of Brother Powers, has preserved the 
cream of that occasion, which, without abridge- 
ment — save the artistic features — is published 
as an appendix. 

Foreword. — On May 27, 1914, without any 
warning, I received this note : 

Pewee Valley, Ky., May 26, 1914. 
Col. Thos. D. Osborne, Louisville, Ky. : 

Dear Brother and Comrade: — I am writing 
to advise you that you — as Chairman — H. C. 
McGill and S. J. Cannon, have been appointed 
214 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

a committee on arrangements for the celebra- 
tion of the ninetieth anniversary of the birth of 
our venerable Brother, W. E. Powers, which will 
take place on Friday evening, in Louisville, 
June 26th. 

The place of holding it, the preparation of 
the menu, whether short or long, price of same, 
etc., is left in the hands of your committee. 
Very cordially, 

A. N. WHITE. 

Obeying Orders. 

Accordingly, the Committee began at once ; 
announcements were made in the papers, both 
secular and religious; also printed invitations 
were sent to many churches and pastors. 

A little later, a birthday banquet was ar- 
ranged for at Klein's and promptly at twelve 
o'clock, June 26, 1914, the company sat down 
to the feast, the hosts of the occasion, most of 
whom were present, being as follows: 

Adams, M. B. Beard, Dr. E. F. 

Allgood, Joseph Beckham, J. C. W. 

Anthony, James R. Beckley, George W. 

Argabrite, G. W. Bennett, E. J. 

Argabrite, Mrs. G. W. Bostic, William 

Bauer, Mrs. C. H. Broadway Baptist Church 

Bow, J. G. Brude, William 

Bow, Mrs. J. G. Burnett, E. G. 

Baptist World Cannon, S. J. 

Basye, Elijah Cannon, Mrs. S. J. 
215 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Power 



Catlett, J. W. 
Carson, iS. W. 
Carson, Mrs. iS. W. 
Coleman, John 
Coleman, J. D. 
Cook, Miss K. L. 
Collins, Levi 
Collins, R. T. 
Collins, C. R. 
Collins, Geo. W. 
Coleman, E. M. 
Coleman, P. T. 
Coleman, Mrs. P. r 
Cooper, iS. A. 
Cottrill, E. A. 
Crawley, A. L. 



Jones, R. J. 
Jones, Mrs. R. J. 
Jenkins, Mrs. E. P. 
Kennedy, W. C. 
Kennedy, Mrs. W. C. 
Kennedy, Miss Mollie 
Klein, J. W. 
Landrum, W. W. 
Lewis, T. L. 
Merchant, J. N. 
Moore, Lewis M. 
Mullins, E. Y. 
Maryman, Mrs. Lilly 
McCarty, C. H. 
McGarity, William Ray 
McGill, H. C. 



Crestwood Bapt. Church Meilone, Miss Agnes 



Deiss, Miss Vera 
Dearing, C. T. 
Dover Baptist Church 
Duncan, John T. 
Eaton, Joseph H. 
Foss, Dr. ,S. S. 
Foss, Mrs. S. S. 
Glore, Miss 
Goodridge, F. H. 
Green, W. T. 
Hall, W. P. 
Harvey, W. P. 
Hays, George E. 
Horn, G. M. 
Horn, Mrs, G. M. 
Huey, Otis M. 
Hedges, T. G. 
Hoagland, C. K. 
Humphrey, T. J. 
Her, Mrs. Bessie 
Ireland, Dr. R. L. 
Jenkins, J. P. 
Johnson, Col r E. Polk 
Johnson, Mrs. E. Polk 
Johnson, Thomas A. 



Miller, Frank 
Miller, Carl J. 
Moody, CD. 

Moorman, Mrs. Bell Foss 
Morrow, Henry L. 
Morrow, Mrs. Henry L. 
Moses, Miss Jennie 
Norton, George W. 
Nunneilley, Miss Allie 
O'Neal, Merit 
Overall, A. B. 
Osborne, Miss Agnes 
Osborne, Thomas D. 
Osborne, Mrs. Thomas D. 
Paxton, J. J. 
Porter, J. W. 
Price, Thomas A. 
Peck, Mrs. J. E. 
Perkins, F. D. 
Perry, L. u. 
Peyton, Mrs. P. T. 
Plemmons, T. H. 
Pound, Edgar 
Rice, A. S. 
Royster, S. B. 
216 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Sampson, A. E. Urwick, Mrs. Christopher 

-Stanford, Mrs. Fannie Vogt, Henry 

iShriley, R. L. Vogt, Mrs. Henry 

Smiths David H. Watts, Ed. 
Southern Baptist Theo.Watts, J. M. 

iSeminary Watts, Mrs. J. M. 

Stallings, John Watson, Mrs. J. B. 

Strauss, Frank P. Weaver, Ben C, Jr. 

Snyder, E. E. Western Recorder 

Stevens, E. C. White, A. N. 

iStewart, W. P. Winburn, H. L. 

'Strother, Sanford Woodbury, Mrs. John L. 

Taylor, T. P. Woodruff, George E. 

Tinsley, Mrs. Woodson, E .T. 

Thuston, Viola J. Woodson, Mrs. E. T. 

Thompson, Malcom Yohannon, I. N. 
Tichenor, J. S. 

The beautiful dining ball had been hand- 
somely decorated, four long tables ran the en- 
tire length of the rear room, and extra tables 
were placed in the front room. 

CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN OF 
W. E. POWERS. 

Children. 



Mrs. Sudie Powers Hope Mrs. Bettie Powers 
Mrs. Mamie Powers Thompson 

Tichenor Foree Powers 

Mrs. Aurelia Powers Dr. J. G. Powers 

■Sleadd Mrs. J. G. Powers 

Mrs. Lula Powers Sleadd 

Grandchildren. 



Mrs. Mary Powers James Irvine Tichenor 

21^ 



The Life of Rev. Walter ElUs Powers. 

Mrs. Vassie Tichenor Aurelia Ticlienor 

Miss Ruth Thompson Charles Edgar Ticlienor 

Walter Thompson Mary Catherine Sleadd 

Franklin Thompson Ellis Miller Sleadd 

Great-grandchildren. 

Sudie K. Ticlienor. 

At a special table the children and grand- 
children were seated. When all were in their 
places, Thos. D. Osborne called to order and 
said, ' ' The Committee has now about completed 
its work and the further proceedings are placed 
in the hands of Director General A. N. White. ' ' 
Brother White requested Brother S. J. Can- 
non to ask God's blessing and following the in- 
vocation this excellent menu was served : 
1. — Baptist Bouillon. 
2. — Veal Cutlet with Tomato Sauce. 
3. — New Potatoes and Cream. 
4. — Fresh New Peas. 
5. — Tomato and Lettuce with; French Dressing. 
6. — Fancy Ices and Cakes. 
7.— Coffee. 
At the conclusion of the seventh course, 
Brother A. N. White announced that the exer- 
cises would now be in charge of Brother Claude 
D. Moody as Toastmaster, who began by saying: 
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have now 
218 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

reached a new order of business, responding to 
toasts, and these are to be given in a business 
way, no one talking over five minutes. I am 
here as a business man to see to this. But, 
brethren, I am here also to honor our beloved 
father in Israel, "Walter E. Powers. I have 
known him long as a tower of strength to the 
Baptists of Long Run Association." 

After other complimentary remarks, Brother 
Moody gave capital characteristic introductions 
to the speakers. 

The speakers and sentiments were as follows : 

1. C. D. Moody Toastmaster 

2. H. L. Winburn.Greetings from the City Churches 

3. E. C. Stevens 

Greetings from the Country Churches 

4. W. W. Landrum 

Greetings from Pastors' Conference 

5. J. P. Jenkins Our Father in Israel 

6. B. H. DeMent Greetings from the Seminary 

7. Dr. J. G. Powers Our Father's Home Life 

8. Thomas D. Osborne.. A Layman's Appreciation 

9. J. G. Bow Our Moderator 

10. Dr. J. W. Porter : 

Our Debt to the Nestor of the Baptist Ministry 

11. Greetings from Absent Friends J. B. Mody 

12. W. E. Powers 

A Message from the Man who has reached the 
Ninetieth Milestone in the Pilgrimage of Life. 

Brethren H. L. Winburn and E. C. Stevens 
219 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

failed to furnish a report of their remarks, but 
each declared * ' There is little real difference be- 
tween the membership of a country church and 
a city church ; the fact is, we were all once coun- 
try folks and brought letters from country Bap- 
tist churches to join city Baptist churches, and 
now town and country churches alike look lov- 
ingly at Brother Powers and give him hopeful 
thankful greeting. ' ? 

Brother W. W. Landrum, on behalf of the 
Louisville Baptist Ministers' Conference, spoke 
as follows: 

Whenever it pleases our venerable Brother Pow- 
ers to attend our Monday morning conference in 
Louisville he is received with distinguished consid- 
eration. At once every member of our Body rises 
and remains standing until he is seated. As presi- 
dent, I repeat the words: "Thou shalt rise up before 
the hoary head and honor the face of the old man." 
"They shall bring forth fruit in old age." 

Dr. Powers is informed that as an expression of 
our affection and admiration for his long and useful 
service in the ministry we put aside the order of the 
day and invite him to address us upon any subject 
that he may think proper and at whatever length of 
time he may prefer. Invariably, with becoming 
courtesy, he bids us continue our regular program 
with the understanding that he will take up only a 
few minutes before adjournment. 

These addresses abide in our memory. They are 
220 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

characteristically pertinent and pointed. Never 
long or prosy, they gleam with flashes of humor or 
pierce our hearts with barbs of satire on the faults 
and foibles of the modern ministry. He always 
scouts laziness and cowardice on the part of his 
younger brethren, these, with any tendency to heter- 
odoxy, being, it would seem, his pet abominations. 
With wise discrimination he now cautions and now 
congratulates us. In all he says his aim evidently is 
to inspire us to greater efficiency and fidelity in our 
great and responsible calling. We are all his debt- 
ors for sage counsel and fatherly admonition. 

Our toastmaster has said that, judging by what 
he has heard at the sessions of the Long Run Asso- 
ciations, it is quite natural to infer that Dr. Powers 
differs from this poor dust in certain matters of pol- 
icy and denominational practice. Let me reply that 
Dr. Powers never differs from me any more than I 
differ from him. Neither one of us is infallible and I 
am sure that my beloved brother is the last man in 
the world who would give me his respect or affection 
if he imagined I sought to conceal my convictions or 
basely cringed or cowered before him on account of 
his age, experience or wide popularity. A brave man 
respects the rights of others as he would have his 
own respected. 

No loyal Baptist dare differ from Dr. Powers on 
a New Testament principle. All our principles are 
the same. We part company along the line of our 
traditions, our preferences and our prejudices and 
our policies. And we must more and more come to 
subordinate these things. Kentucky Baptists can 
cordially co-operate on the motto: "In essentials 
221 



m The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Towers. 

unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, char- 
ity." 

Our Baptist Ministers' Conference offers its 
heartiest congratulations to the Nestor of us all. We 
thank God for him and we here and now pledge our- 
selves to follow him as he follows Christ, praying 
that his days may Ibe prolonged and his bow abide 
in strength till the chariot comes to take him to his 
eternal home. 

BROTHER J. P. JENKINS 

Also failed to furnish a report of his remarks; 
he told of how in his boyhood days he had met 
and fallen in love with Brother Powers, and this 
love had grown with the years. After his eon- 
version and call to the Ministry, he had always 
looked to Brother Powers' for leadership. 

GREETINGS PROM THE SEMINARY. 

Dr. DeMent was absent from the eity, and 
the following letter was read from President E. 
Y. Mullins of the Southern Baptist Theological 
Seminary : 

"As I am not sure I will be able to attend the 
dinner given to Brother Powers to-morrow, I take 
this means of expressing to him, through you, my 
congratulations upon the attainment of his ninetieth 
birthday. It is exceedingly rare that a man is per- 
mitted, not only to live so long, but to serve so long 
in the Baptist ministry, and it must be a source of 
great satisfaction to our brother to look back upon 
222 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

the efforts he has put forth for the coming of the 
Kingdom of our Lord and Master. 

"I join with many friends in wishing for him 
many happy returns of his birthday. Regretting 
■that I cannot be present, I am, 

Cordially and sincerely yours, 

E. Y. Mullins." 

PRESENTATION. 

Dr. J. G. Powers tenderly declined to talk 
on "Our Father's Home Life," and Thos. D. 
Osborne delivered "A Layman's Apprecia- 
tion," saying "I pay a tribute to Brother 
Powers, first as a model presiding officer as Mod- 
erator of Long Run Association : no one can 
waste the time or delay the business of an Asso- 
ciation as can a dilatory chairman. To be 
prompt, the Moderator must be prepared. 
Brother Powers was always prepared, always 
prompt and always showed affectionate appre- 
ciation to speakers and hearers. Yet he never 
coveted an office or courted a compliment, but 
when they came he" expressed gratitude. 

These three points — preparedness, prompt- 
ness and appreciation — made Brother Powers 
the model Moderator. 

And everywhere he did well, walking wor- 
thily, and so I make for him the wish — 
223 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

May you live as long as you want to live, 

And as long as you live have all you want to have. 

In token of loving regard, I now present you 
this cane from the Holy Land; it came from 
Jerusalem, the City of King David. It grew 
in Palestine and was brought to Louisville. 
Brother Thos. A. Johnson has appropriately en- 
graved it and we now jointly give it to you. Use 
it for a gavel or in any way you wish." 

At this point, Brother A. N. White came 
forward and, on behalf of the Committee, pre- 
sented Brother Powers with a purse of fifty 
dollars in gold and a Judson Centennial Medal. 

Brother White also paid verbal tribute, 
saying : 

WALTER ELLIS POWERS 

As I See Him. 

No more striking personality ever labored in his- 
toric Long Run Association. He is perfect in 
temper, unfailingly good-humored, invariably opti- 
mistic and yet withal, splendidly courageous. He 
takes all the iblows of adverse fortune with equanim- 
ity, whether they come in the loss of temporal pos- 
sessions, in the alienation of long-cherished friends, 
or in the bereavement of loved ones, and never en- 
vious of those more fortunate than himself, he 
could not bear a grudge against his brethren. Called 
into the ministry at the age of thirty-four, in the 
224 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

pastorate for half a century, and now at the age of 
ninety, he has in him something of the schoolboy 
and is still interested in the King's business and 
gladly lends a hand whenever occasion invites. 

And does he not look toil-worn? Oh. yes! One 
can see the marks of the harness on him. His form 
is not so erect, his step is not so elastic, and his 
voice is not so resonant and winsome as in the days 
of his ycung manhood. The plowshare of time has 
run deep furrows in his face, the passing years have 
somewhat dimmed the lustre of his eye, and the 
frosts of ninety winters have taken from his hair 
its raven-glossiness. But he has let neither time 
nor toil dampen his high spirits, or affect his genial 
temper. So many elements blending into one har- 
monious whole is surely a great achievement. In- 
deed, it is better than an achievement; it is a part 
of the endowment of the man. Thus, with his ample 
intellectual furnishings, with the sturdy strain of 
pioneer blood in his veins, his splendid physical 
equipment and his irrepressible optimism. Walter 
Ellis Powers steadfastly refuses to grow old. He is 
one of the happy few who were born young, and at 
ninety he preserves the dew of his youth. 

So to-day, on this ninetieth anniversary of your 
birth, your friends and brethren delight to honor 
you for the principles for which you have always 
stood, for the helpful life you have lived and the 
splendid service you have rendered more than two 
generations, and, in order that the day may be re- 
membered as an occasion which was characterized 
by something more than eulogies and congratula- 
tions, I have been commissioned to present to you 
225 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

this purse as an additional and substantial testimony 
of the love and appreciation of your friends and 
brethren. 

"OUR MODERATOR" 

"Was spoken to by Brother J. O. Bow, who said : 
Brother Toast master, Brethren and Sisters: 
I am requested to say something about Our 
Moderator. To moderate means to preside, to 
restrain. 

Long Run Association, a religious body composed 
of Baptist churches, voluntarily associated together 
for the mutual improvement and edification, and for 
the sustenance and spread of the Gospel, has had 
for about a third of a century, since 1880, W. E. 
Powers for Moderator. He is our presiding officer, 
our leader — "Primus inter pares." 

God has men for every crisis, for all emergencies. 
No doubt our brother came to the Kingdom for 
such a time. 

He was born in the days when the seeds of 
Campbellism had been industriously sown, and were 
germinating, and reared in the stormy period of its 
persistent propagation. 

Dr. J. H. Spencer says: "Previous to 1816 there 
was not an Anti-missionary in Kentucky as far as 
known. The opposition to missions arose in large 
measure through the baneful influence of Daniel 
Parker, setting forth the 'Two-seed' doctrine, to- 
gether with the preaching and writing of Alexander 
Campbell." In his Centennial address, in 1887, 
Spencer says: "In 1823, that wonderfully verbose 
226 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

and ambiguous caricaturist, Alexander Campbell, 
commenced a furious attack upon missionary and 
Bible societies, the support of pastors, and theological 
education, and kept up the onslaught through the 
Christian Baptist for seven years. This pamphlet 
had an extensive circulation in Kentucky, and did 
more to strengthen the opposition to missions, Bible 
distribution, and the education and support of 
preachers than all other causes combined." 

It was during this stormy period that our Modera- 
tor was born and reared. There was Campbellism 
and Anti-nomianism and Universalisni and other 
isms of contrary and contradictory tenets. Doubt- 
less these environments helped to make him the 
stalwart Christian soldier he has ever shown him- 
self to be. He is older than Campbellism, and far 
more orthodox, and has lived to see many of its 
extravagances greatly modified. 

But what shall be done unto the man whom Ken- 
tucky Baptists delight to honor? We shall not clothe 
him in royal apparel, and set him upon the King's 
throne, and place upon his head the crown royal, 
but because of what he is, and what he has done, 
and because of our love for him, we joyfully cover 
him with our praise and crown him with our confi- 
dence and love, and bear him upon our prayers that 
God may long spare his useful life. 

Brother, you have wrought nobly, you have lived 
to see the white Baptists of Kentucky almost a 
quarter of a million strong, our institutions of learn- 
ing among the best, and our missionary operations 
gigantic and prosperous, yet there remaineth much 
land to be possessed. 

227 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Errors are springing up on every hand. There is 
Russellism and Eddyism, and Socialism, higher 
and lower criticism, and countless other isms and 
evils. Doubtless many of these and others of like 
cult will be here when we are gone, yet you have 
not wrought in vain. 

There are minor evils among us which need your 
counsel and correction. Here is our brother, Charles 
Hoagland, a veritable ecclesiastical polygamist, and 
your young and honored brother, Stevens, who even 
lacks the Pauline qualification of being the 
"husband of one wife." 

Now, beloved, we say — 
The seed was sown at early morn, 

And God's own hand prepared the soil, 
Nor eventide thy hand withheld, 

And God has prospered all thy toil. 
The "Harvest Home" with joyful praise, 

As ripening sheaves were garnered in, 
Employed thy soul in darkest days, 

While reaping from the fields of sin. 
And when the reaping time is o'er, 

You'll hear the Savior's blessed "Come, 
Abide with Me, and toil no more; 

Here's rest and peace, and love, and home." 
And when you pass the pearly gate, 

And stand before the Eternal Son, 
Me thinks we'll see the angels wait 

To hear Him say: "Well done! Well done!" 

Dr. J, W. Porter spoke next on 
228 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

THE DEBT OF KENTUCKY BAPTISTS 
TO W. E. POWERS. 

Comparatively stated, Kentucky Baptists owe 
more to W. E. Powers than to any other man now 
among us. His battles were fought in times that 
tried men's hearts and souls; and when only the 
Elect of the Lord could stand the withering fire of 
the enemy. In the warp and woof of his being, there 
is the stuff of which martyrs are made, and heroic 
characters constructed. 

Through all the years of holy warfare, he has 
stood like an oak on the storm-swept hills, defying 
all the thunders of wrath, and laughing at the light- 
nings of human folly and fury. He feared God; there- 
fore, he feared not the face of man or devil. For- 
his faithfulness, our state owes to him a debt of 
gratitude it can never repay, but which it gladly 
acknowledges. Through the serried years, loyalty 
to Christ and faithfulness to His word have been his 
prayer and his practice. He has ever believed that 
it is better to please God than men. He has neither 
been flattered by his friends nor frightened by his 
enemies; and turning neither to the right nor left, 
he has faithfully pursued the pathway of a God- 
given destiny. Truly, his illustrious life has been 
dedicated to God and the Baptists. 

That Kentucky is today a Baptist State is due in 
large measure to the life and work of this matchless 
man. His Baptist convictions have been as sacred 
to him as his convictions of redeeming love. To 
him the Bible has been a Baptist book, and the ideal 
life, the logical result of Baptist principles. One 
229 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

Jjord, one faith and one baptism lias guarded his 
life, and governed his preaching. And yet, in all his 
contention for the faith once for all delivered to the 
saints, he has been as gentle as a woman, and as 
loving as a child. He has so lived that friend and 
foe are better for his life, and today the sun shines 
brighter on our "Old Kentucky Home" because his 
home has been in Old Kentucky. 

And now amid the sunshine and shadows that 
are fast falling about his pilgrim path, we would 
here publicly thank God for his long and blessed life 
— so rich in word and deed, in faith and works. And 
lest he forget, we here assure him that as he walks 
into the valley of the shadows, he carries with him 
the love and gratitude of thousands, many of whom 
he has led to the Lord, and others whose lives are 
more Ohristlike for his ministry. He has been faith- 
ful in life, and will be unto death. Well may he say 
and sing — 

"Through many dangers, toils and snares, 
I have already come; 

'Twas grace that brought me on thus far, 
And grace shall lead me home." 

COL. E. POLK JOHNSON 

In response to many calls, responded : 

Mr. Toast master, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
As you all know, I am net on the list of those 
named to speak here today. What I shall try to say 
is at the special request of Brother Powers, who has 
known me from my infancy. I can remember the 
time when he was not a minister, and was present 
230 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Poivers. 

when he was ordained to that ministry which he has 
honored for so many years. He was presented to the 
Council of Ordination by my honored father, who 
long years ago went to his reward. Between my 
father and Brother Powers there existed a beautiful 
and abiding affection, and it is a pleasing reflection 
that the warmth of that affection has been cherished 
both by the sons of that father and our honored 
guest of today. He was a frequent and a delightful 
visitor at my father's fireside. When he came to us, 
there came also that "sweetness and light" which 
he everywhere radiates. That is why he is here to- 
day. I recall coming home from the Confederate 
army, penniless, ragged and dejected; beaten but 
not whipped, because nobody could whip us. Brother 
Powers came to our home soon afterwards and as a 
result of his bright spirit and his loving kindness, 
my feelings were not half so "rumpled-up" when he 
left us as they had been before his coming. That 
was and is his way; he sees the brightest side of 
things and refuses to see the darker. The pessimist 
sees a dark cloud in the sky which you could not 
show to Brother Powers in a week, but he would see 
the silver lining of that cloud at a glance. To me, 
it has always seemed that a Christian should be a 
constantly happy person. I have no patience nor do 
I think Brother Powers has, with a preacher who 
speaks in a hark-from-the-tombs voice and whose 
face reminds me of a macadamized road to a cem- 
etery. Such people never celebrate their ninetieth 
anniversay, nor do they get very far along the way 
in which they are trying to lead others. If any here 
would live to be ninety years old, let such a one be 
231 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

cheerful, be good — in a word, be as faithful and 
sunny-spirited as Brother Powers has always been, 
and whether you reach the goal or not, you will have 
done much for your fellowman, as he has done, and 
that is worth striving for. 

BROTHER POWERS' MESSAGE. 

Following the last speech, Brother Powers 
spoke with much feeling a message from the 
"Man who has reached the 90th mile-stone in 
the pilgrimage of life." Among other things, 
he said : 

Who am I to have so much honor and kindness 
shown? But, bless you, I like it, though I may not 
deserve it. I am glad to get that cane from Jerusa- 
lem; you know that the Baptists began work in that 
region and they have carried the Master's Message 
clear around the world, and we are still moving on. 
I do a good deal of walking and will carry my cane 
in my travels. I am not as old as Long Run Asso- 
ciation, but I remember its fathers. It began Sep- 
tember 16, 1803 and took in the twenty-four churches 
of ten counties — Jefferson, Bullitt, iSpencer, Ander- 
son, Franklin, Carroll, Henry, Trimble, Oldham and 
Shelby. I was born on a farm in iShelby, and Octo- 
ber 17, 1839, was baptized at Dover by Elder E. G. 
Berry. I have been a member of Long Run Associa- 
tion seventy-five years; have not missed a session 
for fifty-five years, and have served as Moderator 
thirty-five years. 

Of the twenty-four churches forming the Asso- 
232 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

elation only four remain as members. These are 
Long Run, King's, Elk Creek and Cedar Creek. 
Cedar Creek is the oldest; once it was Chenowith 
Run. The Campbellites almost captured it; a faith- 
ful few held on; they lost one or two church houses 
and had hard work to build; on the last house one 
man gave 100 days' work. At Elk Creek was where 
I first attended Long Run Association. When I go 
to our Association I have mingled feelings of glad- 
ness and sadness; joy at the progress of our work; 
sorrow that so many have fallen in death. They fell 
to rise in the better land to which we are all hasten- 
ing. 

Thank God for the increase of his army. Our 
Association began with 1,610 members, and now 
several churches have that many members, and 
Long Run Association has nearly ten times that 
number. Our Association has always been faithful 
to the Word; one question has come before it sev- 
eral times. I refer to Alien Immersion. The answer 
has always been, "Baptize them." 

Our missionary operations have grown mightily. 
Up to 1815 the preacher paid almost all of the mis- 
sionary contributions. That year the first Mission 
Board was formed, $109.06 was contributed, and 
Henson Hobbs, one of the twelve preachers who 
helped to organize the Association, was the mission- 
ary that year, and he organized the First Baptist 
Church in Louisville. It is now Walnut Street 
Church, mother of all the city churches. 

But I must not talk too much. We are all going 
home to work for the Lord, who has blessed us so 
much. I will find work if I have to travel a long 
233 



The Life of Bev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

ways for it. God has appointed my work. I don't 
know how many years I shall be with you. I can 
almost hear the ripple of the last river. Our God 
will give me grace to go, I have a parting message 
for each one of you: "Be thou faithful unto death 
and I will give thee a crown of life." When you 
meet again and I am gone let some one say of me, 
"He was faithful." 

Now don't all of you go home right away. Stop 
awhile, shake hands and talk to each other. You 
city people and country people need to know each 
other better and you will love each other more. 

OTHER MESSAGES. 

Several absentees sent greetings, the main 
one was as follows: 

ELDER W. E. POWERS, THE AGED. 
Brother W. E. Powers possessed many manly 
and ministerial characteristics worthy of memory 
and imitation. It was my good fortune to live in his 
neighborhood some dozen years. I was often with 
him, both before and after my ordination. His com- 
mendable qualities I would name are as follows: 

ACTIVITIES. 

He had the go on him, and he went, rain or shine; 
cold or hot; far or near; sick or well, and he was 
there on time, every time, or it was not his fault. 
Second: His social qualities. This more than com- 
pensated for any lack of pulpit oratory. His long 
and loving pastorates is proof of this. Third: His 
sympathy for the poor and sick. Fourth: His pater- 
234 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Power*. 

nal care of young preachers. Last, but not least: 
His love aiid fidelity to the truth. He esteemed 
truth above popularity, and to him consistency was 
a real and rare jewel. Many have wrought more 
powerfully in the higher walks, but none more gra- 
ciously and humbly and effectively in the common 
walks of men and the ministry. The long moderator- 
ship of his Association he bore with becoming meek- 
ness. Fawning, favors and flattery had no purchas- 
ing power with him. 

To illustrate his fatherly interest in young 
preachers, I would give my own experience. For 
years we were on intimate terms before my ordina- 
tion. We had our theological spats, not so much 
because we differed, but because we loved to sport- 
ively spat. When he heard of my prospective ordi- 
nation, he told me that he had longed for a good 
subject for the dissecting table. He threatened me 
with an all-day operation, and said they would 
sharpen their drills, and if there was any evil in 
me, they were going to disclose it. This he knew 
would scare me into a thorough preparation. He- 
desired the occasion to get our doctrines before the 
people. He could not be present when I preached 
my first sermon, but he was out early Monday morn- 
ing making inquiries on his way to visit me. As he 
approached he said: "You have ruined yourself; I 
was afraid of it; you struck twelve first time, and 
you must strike one next time. You had better be- 
gun at one and increased to twelve." The joke was 
too serious for me on that blue Monday morning, so 
I had to tell "the miserable comforter" to hush up. 
But he knew what I needed, and had prepared the 
235 



The Life of Rev. Walter Ellis Powers. 

way for it as he came on. It would not do for me 
to make exhaustive preparation for every Sunday, 
so he would arrange for some one to take my place, 
and I must go with him and repeat my sermon. This 
he did on several occasions, and if he had not, I 
don't know what would have become of me, as I had 
put all of my capital stock in the first sermon and 
I was wondering what I could say every Sunday 
and on Saturday to the same church. His ministry 
to me was that of an angel! The same interest he 
took in all young preachers that came in his way. 
He often took them to his home and drilled them 
in the right ideas of their high calling. Such fatherly 
care of young preachers was one of his crowning ex- 
cellencies. I love to honor him. 

Affectionately, 
Watertown, Tenn. J. B. MOODY. 

COMMITTEE: 

Thos. D. Osborne Chairman 

S. J. Cannon '. Secretary 

H. C. McGill Treasurer 

A. N. White Director-General 

DONATORS: 

Fidelity and Columbia Trust Co. 

Broadway Baptist Church 

Baptist Book Concern 

P. Walker & Co. 

Lee E. Craile. 



233 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS £ 



021 898 719 9 











• 




' 









t 



